USA > Ohio > Columbiana County > History of Columbiana County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 68
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The west fork of Beaver Creek flows through the town- ship from the northwest corner to the middle of the eastern boundary, and affords good water-power.
Coal-beds are plentiful, but the lack of railway facilities confines the value of the mineral to the limits of a small home consumption. The same reference may be made to deposits of limestone, fire-clay, iron-ore, sandstone, and flagstone. The latter, found in the Sloan flag quarry, upon the farm occupied by Mrs. Eliza McCord, is said to yield flagstones of a superior quality.
Wayne is a productive farming region, and is noted for its picturesque scenic endowments. High elevations dot the surface in every part, and from their summits views of a wide sweep of fertile hill and plain, relieved by woodland scenes, are presented in a particularly engaging form.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
Aaron Hull is said to have been the first white inhabitant of Wayne township. He located in 1802 on section 16, and
was for some time a lonely settler in a howling wilderness, until, early in 1803, new-comers began to gather in the town- ship. Among them were Adam Poe, father of the Indian- fighting Poe family, who built his cabin near where Samuel Ewing now lives ; John T. Parker, who was the first justice of the peace in the township; James Hoge, a government surveyor ; Patrick McKaig, the Thompsons, Armstrongs, Hutchinsons, Sheehans, and Mclaughlins.
In 1804, Gideon Guver settled the place known as the Gaver farm, where is now Gaver post-office; John Arm- strong and William King, upon that part of Wayne now included in Franklin township. In 1805, James Figley occupied the place now owned by John Meister, and James Donaldson the farm upon which James, his son, resides.
John Fleming, who moved into Wayne in 1815, pur- chased the farm on section 9 entered by John T. Parker, and upon that farm his son John still lives. His nearest neighbors were Gideon Guver, on the east, in section 10; James Donaldson, on the west; James Arinstrong, on the north, upon section 4; and James Hoge, who, with Donald- son, lived on section 8.
Section 7, now in Franklin, but then in Wayne, was in 1804 settled by William King, who came in from Pennsyl- vania with his wife, two daughters, and three sons, John, Hugh, and Thomas. Besides entering other land, Patrick
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TOWNSHIP OF WAYNE.
MeKaig entered section 7 with William King. When the latter settler located, there was no settler on the west between his place and the Tuscarawas River.
Wm. Grafton (who died in 1878, aged ninety-four), with his brother William, came in from Maryland, and settled, in 1813, upon land entered by one Leiper, upon section 14. Leiper owned a small tract of 22 acres, now owned by Rev. Robert Hayes, and situated in Wayne. This he sold to Geo. McLeest for a pair of ear-rings, .McLeest, who was a dealer in jewelry, finding that method of payment much more to his liking than the disburse- ment of money.
Following close upon the advent of the Graftons came the Pattersons, McCords, Morgans, Dessellems, and MeMillins. Patrick McKaig, already alluded to, was the pioneer miller in Wayne, albeit his mill was a primitive affair.
One Starkey is said to have led the van in the matter of sturdy service at the forge, and was accounted a blacksmith of more than ordinary excellence and of marvelous physical strength.
An early settler was Cupt. James Wormington, who dicd in Wayne at the age of one hundred and three, and who claimed that sixty years of his life had been passed upon the sea in the naval and merchant-marine services.
Gottleib Nothdurft and John Meister were time-honored citizens, natives of France, and boasted of having fought under the first Napoleon, with whom, Meister related, he shared the terrors of the famous retreat from Moscow.
Many of the early settlers in Wayne were from Penn- sylvania and Maryland, and were generally people of more than ordinary energy and thrift, while they were as a rule intelligent and warm advocates of religious worship, which they took speedy measures to secure for the settlement as soon as practicable. There were some, too, who belonged to the rougher class of backwoodsmen ; who prided them- selves especially on their physical prowess; were ambitious to be known as " scalp-lifters;" regarded civilization and its refinements as fit only for women ; always went attired in the traditional buckskin breeches, hunting-shirt, and skin cap, and were, in short, a wild and boisterous band of free- lances, who rejoiced in their freedom from conventionalities and in a roving existence.
Indians were plentiful, but not dangerous. They roamed about at will, and, although they were never troublesome, be- yand being thieves and beggars, their presence was always attended with apprehensive fears among the settlers, and the atmosphere always seemed easier to breathe when the red-skins were not about.
Many stories are still extant of the superstitions preva- lent among the early settlers, and of the ceremonies ob- served in warding off the evils which were foretold by persons claiming to be versed in the knowledge of dispelling the influences of witchcraft; but this superstitious belief, it is but justice to believe, obtained only among a few of the most ignorant, and never passed current among the intelligent members of the community.
Wild and savage animals roamed the forests in those days, and their prowlings and frequent ravages occasioned frequent and serious alarm to the settlers. The yell of the panther and the mournful howl of wolves were familiar
sounds to the pioneer ear, and the protection at night of the household from the probable attack of the one, as well as special guarding of domestic animals from the approach of the other, exercised the watchful concern of the settler, and gave him no end of anxious fear. The last panther killed in the township was in 1832,-and hunting such and kin- dred animals had frequently engaged the attention of the bold back woodsman,-when in a grand rally by a half-dozen hunters the beast fell by the hand of Daniel Lindesmith, a noted deer-slayer and an unerring rifle-shot. Deer-slaying was a favorite pastime, and bear-hunting much affected, while the pursuit of the venomous rattlesnake, although a dangerous sport, was a not uncommon pastime.
It is told that even as late as 1832, John McLeest owned the only cart in his neighborhood, and that he also owned the first wagon seen in the township. The calls upon him for the use of those articles were frequent from all sides, and left him but little opportunity to serve with them his own needs. So also was it with the first grain-cradle brought into the township, and owned by William Grafton.
The farmers struggled hard and diligently to eke out a "living, but that work in a new country is a slow and diffi- cult process, and it is still a saying in Wayne that no sooner had a farmer paid his taxes for one year than he began directly to save all the money he could make to pay taxes for the next. Squire John T. Parker, of whom mention has already been made, performed, in 1808, the first mar- riage ceremony known in Wayne, the parties married being Thomas Culbertson and Betsey Porter. Marriage ceremonies in those days were neither brilliant nor stylish affairs, but they were joyous occasions nevertheless, and, although the bridegroom might appear in shirt sleeves, barefoot, and with but one suspender supporting his panta- loons, and the bride in home-spun frock, they were happily content and with their friends made the time a jolly one.
Wayne sprang promptly to the rescue upon the outbreak of the war of 1812, and many of her best citizens gave their services in the conflict. It was during the progress of the war, when the people were keenly alive to alarms and apprehensions, that a rapidly-spread report of a threat- ened Indian incursion into the township caused feverish excitement and the rapid flight of many families to places of better security. The alarm proved happily a false one, and after a brief absence the refugees returned, but it was long before they settled into a peaceful conviction that the day of trouble was past.
The first justice of the peace, as has been noted, was John T. Parker, who was elected upon the organization of the township, and after him Patrick McKaig, chosen in 1809, Thomas Roseburg, in 1812, and John Shivers were the pioneer justices.
Wayne is a strictly temperance township, and in 1832 organized a temperance society, which was followed directly afterwards by the organization, at Bethel church, of a similar society. Such good fruit did these movements bear that since 1850 not a drop of liquor has been sold within the limits of the township, as gces the report.
Of the men who were born and reared in Wayne, Thos. J. MeKaig, Win. W. Mckaig, Wm. Armstrong, and Jos. F. Williams, have served as State legislators ; Clement V. Mc-
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIANA COUNTY, OHIO.
Kaig and M. Travis entered the ministry: John Armstrong served as the treasurer of Columbiana County three consecu- tive terms; Wm. Armstrong was associate county judge; Hiram Gaver was county commissioner for ten years; Joshua S. Sloan probate judge and county treasurer in Iowa, his brother Robert judge of the court of common pleas, and Geo. J. Luckey superintendent of public schools in Pitts- burgh.
ORGANIZATION.
Wayne was organized in 1806, and included originally a territory of six miles square, embracing thirty-six sections. Upon the erection of Carroll County, in 1832, Wayne lost a row of sections to Washington on the south, and one to Franklin on the west, so that its area of territory is now included within twenty-five sections, measuring five miles square.
The first tax levy in Wayne township was $28; in 1821 the levy was $53.75.
For the years 1807 to 1816 there are no existing town- ship records; from the latter date to 1879 they are, how- ever, complete, and the list of township trustees, clerks, and treasurers who have served during that period is here given :
1816 .- Trustees, Patrick MoKaig, Francis Gardner, John Fleming; Clerk, Thomas C. King; Treasurer, Hugh King.
1817 .- Trustees, Patrick MeKaig, John Fleming, Joshun Coupland ; Clerk, Thomas C. King; Treasurer, Gideon Gaver.
1818 .- Trustees, James Beer, John Shivers, Henry Beck ; Clerk, James Sharp ; Treasurer, Gideon Gaver.
1819 .- Trustees, John Fleming, John Shivers, Henry Beck; Clerk, James Sharp ; Treasurer, Benjamin Scattergood.
1820 .- Trustees, John Fleming, Henry Beck, Samuel Sloan : Clerk, James Sharp; Treasurer, James Donaldson.
1821 .- Trustees, John Fleming, Henry Beck, Wm. Grafton; Clerk, John MoKaig; Treasurer, James Donaldron. 1822 .- Trustees, Hugh King, Wm. Grafton, Joseph Watson; Clerk, Thomas C. King ; Treasurer, Samuel Grafton.
1823 .- Trustees, Hugh King, Henry Beck, Thomas Patterson; Clerk, Thomas C. King; Treasurer, Samuel Grafton. 1824 .- Trustees, Henry Beck, James Welsh, Martin Armstrong; Clerk, Thomas C. King; Treasurer, James Beer. 1825-27 .- Trustees, Henry Beck, James Sharp, Martin Armstrong; Clerk, Thomas C. King; Treasurer, James Beer. 1828 .- Trustees, William Grafton, Thomas Roseburg, Martin Arm- strong: Clerk, John McKaig; Treasurer, John Hughey. 1829 .- Trustees, Wm. Grafton, Thomas Roseburg, Martin Armstrong ; Clerk, William MeHarg ; Treasurer, Robert L. Fleming. 1830 .- Trustees, Wm. Grafton, Thomas Roseburg, Martin Armstrong ; Clerk, John Fleming; Treasurer, R. L. Fleming. 1831 .- Trustees, William Grafton, Isaac Morgan, Joshua Coupland ; Clerk, John Fleming; Treasurer, James McCord. 1832 .- Trustees, William Grafton, Isaac Morgan, Joshua Coupland ; Clerk, Jesse Phillips; Treasurer, R. L. Fleming. 1833-34 .- Trustees, James McCord, Mathew Black, George Burns; Clerk, Jesse Phillips; Treasurer, R. L. Fleming. 1835 .- Trustees, James McCord, Samuel MeLaughlin, John McKaig; Clerk, Robert Sloan ; Treasurer, R. L. Fleming.
1836 .- Trustees, Samuel Mclaughlin, Juan MeKnig, Joseph Wil- liams; Clerk, James Tritt; Treasurer, Robert Sloan. 1837 .- Trustees, Samuel Mclaughlin, Joseph Williams, Washington Gaver; Clerk, James Tritt ; Treasurer, Robert Sloan. 1838 .- Trustees, Washington Gaver, Samuel Mclaughlin, James Mc- Laughlin ; Clerk, Hugh McCord; Treasurer, Robert Sloan. 1839 .- Trustees, Samuel Mclaughlin, Joseph MeLaughlin, John Fleming; Clerk, Henry H. Phillips; Treasurer, Robert Sloan.
1840 .- Trustees, Samuel McLoughlin, Jos. MeLaughlin, Jas. McCul- lough ; Clerk, Hugh MoCord ; Treasurer, Robert Sloan.
1841 .- Trustees, Jas. Mccullough, Jos. MeLaughlin, Mathew Low- den; Clerk, Jesse Phillips; Treasurer, Gottleib Notbdurft.
1842 .- Trustees, Jas. Mccullough, Mathew Lowden, Robert Sloan ; Clerk, Jesse Phillips; Treasurer, G. Notbdurft.
1843 .- Trustec», Jas. Mccullough, John Fleming, Jas. MeCord ; Clerk, Jus. B. Morrison ; Treasurer, G. Notbdurft.
1844 .- Trustees, Jas McCord, Jobn Fleming, John Fife; Clerk, J. S. Sloan : Treasurer, G. Notbdurft.
1845 .- Trustees, George Burns, Mathew Anderson, John Morgan; Clerk, J. S. Sloan ; Treasurer, G. Notbdurft.
1846 .- Trustees, John Morgan, Mathew Anderson, Robert Travis; Clerk, Edward Gaver ; Treasurer, G. Nothdurft.
1847 .- Trustees, John Morgan, Mathew Anderson, Henry Kepper; Clerk, Piter Tritt; Treasurer, G. Notbdurft.
1848 .- Trustees, John Morgan, Jus. B. Morrison, Thos. Roseburg; Clerk, Peter Tritt; Treasurer, G. Notbdurti.
1849 .- - Trustees, Jas. Mccullough, Jobn Fleming, John Brown; Clerk Peter Tritt ; Treasurer, G. Nothdurft.
1850 .- Trustees, John Fleming, Jas. Mccullough, Hugh McCord; Clerk, J. 8. Sloan; Treasurer, G. Nothdurft.
1851-52 .- Trustees, John Fleming, Jas. MoCullough, Henry Kepner ; Clerk, Iliram Notbdurft ; Treasurer, G. Notbdurft.
1853 .- Trustees, Jas. Mccullough, John Brown, Peter Tritt; Clerk, Hliram Nothdurft; Treasurer, G. Notbdurft.
1854 .- Trustees, James Mccullough, John Brown, Wm. Ferguson ; Clerk, Peter Tritt; Treasurer, Samuel Ewing.
1855-50 .- Trustees, Jobn Fleming, Win. Ferguson, Michael Curran; Clerk, John Robinson ; Treasurer, Samuel Ewing. 1857 .- Trustees, John Fleming, Wm. Ferguson, . Michael Curran; Clerk, John Nothdurft ; Treasurer. Samuel Ewing.
1858 .- Trustees, Jas. Mccullough, Thos. MoCord, Thos. F. Patter- son; Clerk, John Nothdurft ; Treasurer, Samuel Ewing. 1859 .- Trustees, George MeLaughlin, Thos. McCord, Thos. F. Patter- son ; Clerk, Robert Morrow; Treasurer, Samuel Zwing. 1860-62 .- No record.
1863 .- Trustees, Jos. L. Forbes, Lewis Williams, Jobn McMillin; Clerk, John Nothdurft; Treasurer, Samuel Ewing.
1864 .- Trustees, Wm. Todd, John McMillin, David Patterson ; Clerk. John Nothdurft; Tressurer, Thos. D. Stuart.
1865-66 .- Trustees, Thos. McCord, Jos. L. Forbes, Geo. Mclaughlin ; Clerk, Jobn Nothdurft ; Treasurer, T. D. Stewart.
1867-68 .- Trustees, Alez. C. Roley, Jos. Bonner, John Kerr ; Clerk, Wm. A. Sheehan ; Treasurer, Hugh McCord.
1869 .- Trustees, Thos. D. Stewart, Lewis Williams, James G. Donald- son ; Clerk, Wm. A. Sheehan ; Treasurer, Hugh McCord. 1870 .- Trustees, Thos. D. Stewart, Lewis C. Williams, James G. Donaldson ; Clerk, Wm. A. Sheehan ; Treasurer, James G. Donaldson.
1871 .- Trustees, James G. Donaldson, Wm. Ferguson, T. B. Patter- son; Clerk, William A. Sheehan ; Treasurer, James G. Donaldson.
1872 .- Trustees, Thomas D. Stewart, David Patterson, Lewis C. Williams; Clerk, Harvey Davis; Treasurer, Samuel Ewing. 1873 .- Trustees, Israel Irwin, John Fleming, Lewis Williams; Clerk. David Todd; Treasurer, Samuel Ewing.
1874 .- Trustees, Hugh MeCord, John Fleming, Israel Irwin; Clerk, D. W. Todd'; Treasurer, Samuel Ewing.
1875 .- Trustees, T. D. Stewart, Israel Irwin, Thos. Fleming; Clerk, D. W. Todd ; Treasurer, Samuel Ewing.
1876 .- Trustees, Alez. Roley, T. B. Patterson, Israel Irwin ; Clerk, Thos. Fleming; Treasurer, Samuel Ewing.
1877-78 .- Trustees, T. B. Patterson, Jos. Benner, Israel Irwin ; Clerk, Thos. Fleming ; Treasurer, Samuel Ewing. 1879 .- Trustees, T. B. Patterson, Jos. Benzer, Israel Irwin ; Clerk, Thos. Fleming; Treasurer, Samuel Ewing.
VOTERS IN 1828.
From an old record has been compiled the following list of voters in Wayne township in 1828: John McPherson, James Hoge, John Davis, James Sharp, David Scattergood, Robert Urquhart, Allen McLuin, Alexander Hoey, James Johnston, Francis Russell, William Coburn, James Coburn, Samuel Hunter, James Hunter, Patrick McManus, Benja- min Scattergood, Thomas Patterson, Sr., Thomas Patterson, Jr., Samuel Grafton, William McClure, William Grafton,
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TOWNSHIP OF WAYNE.
Patrick McElhore, Henry Hull, William Hull, Peter Wil- son, Nathan Mener, Alexander McGun, William Pumphrey, Jacob Dessellems, Alexander Flowers, John Roley, Robert Sloan, James Welch, Joshua Patterson, Samuel Sloan. Jo- seph Campbell, Gottleib Nothdurft, John Allbright, John Shivers, James McCord, Peter Tritt, John Hutchinson, John Hull, James Jamison, James Morrison, Cornelius Sheehan, Edward Williams, James Sloan, John McGaffick, Richard Davis, Hugh Ree, Lot Todd, Joseph Fox, Charles Close, John Hoey, William Milligan, Andrew Smith, David Rose, Samuel Hull, John Nille, Samuel McCoy, John Phelps, Alexander Dallas, James Brannon, Peter Dallas, James Rogers, Oliver Hutchinson, Richard Carey, William Wal- lace, Abram Daniels, Abram Figley, Bernard Murphy, Christopher Lesnet, Joseph Hutchison, John Patterson, Martin Chiuk, Francis Lucy, Robert Wallace, Mathias Smith, George Corcoran, James Stuart, Robert Long, Wil- liam MeHarg, Daniel Shechan, Simon Figley, Mathew Black, Patrick McKaig, Gideon Gaver, Thomas Glass, James Donaldson, Alexander McGarry, John McKaig, Peter Coss, John McMillan, George MeNelence, James Armstrong, Samuel Ramsay, Philip Ameck, Daniel Knep- per, Martin Armstrong, Joshua Coupland, Daniel MeAllis- ter, Hector Mc Allister, Alexander Shields, Henry Benner, John Farmer, Benjamin Todd, Isaac Morgan, James Beer, Sr., James Beer, Jr., John Gilmore, Thomas Roseburg, William Morgan, John Morgan, Benjamin Daws, David McDivitt, Mathias Louden, J. R. Snodgrass, William Forbus, Henry Beck, Peter Kountz, William Douglass, Samuel Kuffle, Ichabod Davis, Samuel Banks, Joseph Will- yard, William Amen, Anthony Amen, George Farmer, Jacob Ellwell, Thomas Pollock, Christopher Williams, Alexander Todd, Samuel Shivers, William Crawford.
CHURCHES. BETHEL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
The first Presbyterian minister to perform stated labor in Wayne township was Rev. James Robertson, a graduate of St. Andrew's University, Edinburgh, Scotland, who began in 1818 to preach within the present bounds of the Bethel congregation. Ile preached two Sabbaths in each month, occupying a tent for public worship in the summer, and dwelling-houses in the winter. The tent was put up on a field now owned by Rev. Robert Hays, and then near where William Grafton lived. Mr. Robertson was an caru- est, faithful worker, and labored with much success against such inconveniences as a want of church organization, ex- tended journeys over bad roads, and a generally crude con- dition of civilization.
In 1821 a church organization was effected as a branch of the Yellow Creek congregation of Madison township. The early church records having been lost, a list of the original members is not obtainable, but it is known that Andrew Adams, Thomas Patterson, James Welch, and Richard Gilson were the ruling elders chosen at the organ- ization.
Directly upon that event, it was of course deemed neces- sary to have a house of worship, and, Thomas Patterson donating two acres of land for a grave-yard and church site, a double-hewed log house was, by the united efforts of
the members of the congregation, erected upon the spot now occupied by Bethel church.
Oct. 22, 1823, in response to a petition of the Bethel congregation, the Presbytery of Hartford adopted a resolu- tion as follows :
" Reandred, That the congregation of Yellow Creek be divided. and that that part of the congregation where the new meeting-house is built be known by the name of Bethel congregation, and that Rev. James Robertson be considered the stated pastor of that congrega- tion."
The name of Bethel was originally chosen in honor of a church of that name in the Pittsburgh Presbytery, and Mr. Robertson, who was called. had all along been preach- ing for the congregation. He organized the church of Be- thesda, in Franklin township, and until 1827 preached for that and Bethel congregation. The joint membership of the two churches was 202 in the year 1825, previous to which there had been spirited revivals and liberal accessions to the church membership. Mr. Robertson retired from the pastoral charge at Bethel in 1827, and. continuing his ministry elsewhere until 1848, retired from active life in that year, and in 1856 died, in the eightieth year of his age, at the house of his son-in-law. George Sloan, with whom he had passed his declining days. From 1827 to 1835 the church depended upon stated supplies and such as could be best obtained. Revs. John Cook, Thomas Hughes, Nims, Dunlap, Harper, John B. Graham, James Cahoon, and others occupied the pulpit to 1848, Mr. Graham having served as pastor for thirteen years. In 1843, Robert Travis and John McDonald were added to the eldership, which included also the four elders who were selected at the church organization in 1821. Follow- ing Mr. Graham, the preachers at Bethel were Revs. MI. E. Johnson, who labored from 1848 to 1849, and Rev. Robert Hays, the present pastor, who was settled in 1850, and who for a period of thirty years has uninterruptedly served the congregation.
In 1852 the old church-building was succeeded by the substantial frame edifice now in use. In 1854, the church membership, which in 1850 was but 30, had risen to nearly 100. In that year, John Roley, Angus Noble, Rich- ard Gilson, and Andrew S. McIntosh were added to the eldership ; in 1865 the additions were Alexander Melu- tosh, Daniel Grafton, Daniel Rose, Hiram Nothdurft, Alexander Roley ; and in 1871, William Gilson, John Nims, Thomas B. Patterson, and William T. Cameron. The church has now a membership of 230, and is exceed- ingly prosperous.
LEBANON UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
Upon an application being made to the Monongahela Presbytery for one of their number to administer the Lord's Supper and organize an Associate Reformed congregation in Wayne township, Rev. James Brown was delegated, and Aug. 12, 1831, in a grove near Mrs. Fleming's house, in Wayne township, the organization of Lebanon congregation Associate Reformed church was formed. The Session con- sisted of Rev. James Brown as moderator, and Elders Wil- liam Miller, John Homer, Isaac Buchanan, John Walker, and John Collins. The following persons were then ad- . mitted to communion : David Mckinley, Charles' and
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HISTORY OF COLUMBIANA COUNTY, OHIO.
Elizabeth Spence, James and Mary Jamison, Andrew Scott, John and Mary Black, Samuel McCoy, Alonzo and Mary McLain, Samuel and Jane Hunter, Abigail Fleming, Eliz- abeth and Mary Black. William and Harriet Armstrong, Elizabeth and Hannah McCoy, Anna, Elizabeth, and Anna Maria McMillan, Mr. and Mrs: William Bindsley, William Wallace, Margaret Bindsley, Margaret Patterson, Mrs. Mc- Coy. Aug. 15, 1831, James Jamison and William Arm- strong were chosen elders. At the second communion, held at the house of the Widow Fleming, Thomas and Elizabeth McQuoid, John and Margaret Bindsley, and William and Jean Robertson were admitted to membership.
The first preachers were Rev. James Brown and James Walker, and the first called pastor Rev. John Donaldson. William Bindsley was chosen an elder in 1838, and in 1842 the additions were John Young and John McMillan.
The second stated pastor was Rev. Ww. H. Jamison, and after him Revs. James Golden, I. N. White, and H. H. Brownlee, the latter being in charge June, 1879, when the membership was 00.
Preaching was for some time held in a grove and at Mrs. Fleming's house, until the erection of a small frame church, near the site of the present edifice, which was erected in 1858. The present elders are John McMillan, Robert McQuoid, D. D. McIntosh, Samuel Ewing.
PLEASANT GROVE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
In 1837, Joseph Paxton, a blacksmith of Elk Run town- ship, began to preach occasionally at the house of Thomas Cross, in Wayne township, to a company of people who worshiped as members of the United Brethren church. Cross lived north of John Fleming's, where John Patter- son now resides. Paxton, Alexander Biddle, and others preached at Cross' house about two years, and then changed the place of worship to the house of Peter Coss, who lived upon the place now occupied by John Rule. Isaac Cru- baugh was the first class-leader of the United Brethren or- ganization, which, not long after the transfer to the house of Peter Coss, was reorganized as a Methodist Episcopal congregation, with Peter Coss as class-leader. A log church was built upon the latter's farm, and there ser- vices were held until 1848, when the present church-build- ing was put up. Latterly the congregation has not met for worship at the church, save at irregular and lengthened periods, owing to the difficulty of obtaining preachers in a circuit (the Hanover) already taxing to its utmost the powers of the preachers assigned thereto.
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