History of Coshocton County, Ohio, its past and present, 1740-1881, Part 92

Author: Hill, Norman Newell, jr., [from old catalog] comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A. A., & co., Newark, O., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Newark, Ohio, A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 854

USA > Ohio > Coshocton County > History of Coshocton County, Ohio, its past and present, 1740-1881 > Part 92

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A noteworthy ancient mound stands near the forks of the Walhonding, just above the village of Walhonding. It is a conspicuous conical ele- vation in the meadow near the road, having a height of perhaps fifteen feet and a diameter 100 feet. Large trees growing upon it attest its an- tiquity. Mr. Peter Neff made a partial examina- tion of it, several years ago, by digging a trans- verse trench into it some distance. He discov- ered the remains of several skeletons.

In the map of Bouquet's expedition to Coshoc- ton, in 1764, against the Indians, drawn by Mr. Hutching, who accompanied General Bouquet, and published in Dr. Hildreth's Early History of Ohio, an Indian village marked Owl's Town, is lo- cated in the forks of the Walhonding, elose to their junction. It was doubtless named from Owl, an Indian chief, whose name is also perpet- uated by one of the branches of the Walhonding.

Nine years before this, or in 1755, Colonel James Smith, a citizen of Pennsylvania, was sur- prised near Bedford, in that State, and taken prisoner, by two Delaware Indians. "He was lodged at Fort DuQuesne at the time of Brad- dock's defeat, and witnessed barbarities practiced upon prisoners taken in that battle, having him- self to run the gauntlet, and submit to tortures more cruel than death itself. He was then taken to an Indian town called Tullihas, on the White Woman, about twenty miles above the forks, in- habited by Delawares and Mohicans, where he

remained several months, and underwent the ceremony of being made an Indian." Ilis ac- count of it and other ceremonies are graphically written and illustrate the manners and customs of the inhabitants of this territory 125 years ago. If the distance be accurately stated, this village must have been located in New Castle township. The details of his captivity appear in another chapter.

Indians frequently encamped in the township subsequent to the coming of the first settlers, and previous to the war of 1812, the most friendly relations existed between them. The children of the pioneers frequently visited the .Indians in their wigwams, were kindly received, and given pieces of "jerked " meat and other little presents. But when the toesin of war sounded and rumors came to the ears of the set- tlers that the savages had taken up the tomahawk and the war-knife, all this was changed; and deadly fear took the place of the previous confi- denee and repose. The Indians no longer smoked the pipe of peace, but either deserted the neighborhood entirely or skulked suspiciously from place to place through the country, holding no communication whatever with their white neighbors.

Mrs. Matthew Stuart, an aged lady of seventy- six years, the daughter of Robert Giffen, now liv- ing in Bethlehem township with her daughter, Mrs. Denman, recalls the incident of her meeting two of the savages once after the war had been opened. She was sent for the cows one morning some distance from her father's cabin, and upon reaching a ravine, was met by two Indians whose appearance was made hideous by a liberal appli- eation of war-paint. The one cheek of each brave was striped with broad streaks of deep red, which so changed their features for the worse that she was unable to recognize them. The sight of them frightened her greatly, for she had just been lis- tening to stories of their atrocities, but putting on a look of indifference, she walked by them as unconcernedly as possible, and, happily, was not molested.

While Mr. Giffen was serving in the army at Mansfield, one of his children, Robert, fell sick and continued to grow worse till there was no | longer any hope of his recovery. Mrs. Giffen

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wished her husband to see his son before he died, and resolved to go for him. Starting carly one morning at 3 o'clock, armed only with a butcher knife, she performed the perilous journey to Mansfield in safety, and prevailed on Captain Williams to grant her husband a leave of absence.

So near was this township to the seat of war that it was deemed prudent by the early settlers to provide some means of protection against at- tacks of savages, and a block-house was accord- ingly built during the first stages of the eontlict. It stood in the northwestern corner of the Giffen section, on the farm now owned by Daniel Mc- Kec, about two rods west of his present residence and within two rods of the adjacent spring, on a spot of ground which had been a camping place for the Indians. The fortifieation was stoutly built of logs, and in size was about twenty-four feet square. About six feet from the ground, the walls were projected outward several feet, to pre- vent scaling by an attacking enemy. Portholes about four or six inches square, were made on every side, and withal the building was capable of withstanding a vigorous siege, but fortunately the protection it guaranteed never became neces- sary. It was afterwards converted into a cabin and occupied as such many years.

Close to the site of this block-house, and cover- ing a patch of ground perhaps seventy-five feet square, was an apple nursery of Johnny Apple- secd's own raising, planted at a very early day. A number of the early settlers in this vieinity provided themselves with fruit trees from this nursery. One of them, David John, about 1808, transplanted a number of the young trees to his farm, now owned by Joshua Clark. The orchard stood along the road just south of Mr. Clark's stone residence. A single survivor of this carly orchard remains, and it is in the last stages of «lecay. Two large branches were taken down by storm last summer, leaving but one limb now on the tree. Apart from the interest which attaches to it from its association with Johnny Appleseed, the tree is a remarkable one, measuring, as it does, ten feet two inches in circumference, a foot or two from the ground. It has been a prolific bearer of as tine natural fruit as ean well be found, and grafts have been taken from it several times. One year Mr. Clark picked from a por-

tion of the tree eighty-four bushels of apples, and from a careful estimation he believes that it bore that year at least 140 bushels. The foilage of the tree in its prime, shaded a spot of ground forty- four feet in diameter.

Thomas Butler was probably the pioneer set- tler in this township. He was a Virginian; moved with his family to Muskingum county, settling in the vicinity of the present village of Dresden, one spring, when there were but two cabins in Zanesville. He set about preparing himself a house in the wilderness; but the cli- mate did not agree with him. He was seized with ague, and returned to Virginia, in the autumn of the same year. The next spring, his restless, adventurous spirit led him to again tempt the wilds of the then far west, and he crossed the mountains again, this time taking up his abode within the present limits of Coshocton county, about two miles north of the forks of the Muskingum, half a mile west of Canal Lewis- ville. He had cleared a cornfield, of eight or ten aeres-the first improvement in the vicinity- and remained three years; then removed to the house he occupied during the remaining years of his life, in the upper Walhonding valley. The farm is situated in the extreme eastern part of New Castle township, just south of the river. The exact date of his arrival here is uncertain, but it was at least four or five years prior to the emigration of Robert Giffin.

The military seetion upon which he located- the northeastern quarter of the township-be- belonged to George Suekley, an eastern man, who sold it to settlers, in traets to suit the pur- chaser, through his agent, James Dunlap, living near Utiea.

A few reminiscendes of this, the earliest set- tler in this township, would not be inappropri- ate. His grandfather had been shot and killed by Indians close to his cabin, in Virginia, while he was making a garden fence, and his grand- mother, with her youngest chikl, James, then seven years old, captured. Another son, Joseph, Thomas Butler's father, who had been recently married, was out in the fields at work, at the time of his father's untimely death, and his newly- made wife, who was at the house at the time,

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HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

avoided captivity, or perhaps death, by fleeing to her husband, narrowly escaping from a pursuing Indian. Mrs. Butler effected her escape the second night after she was taken prisoner. The little boy, James, remained in captivity with the Indians eighteen months, and was exchanged, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, his brother Joseph, Thomas' father, going for him there.

While Mr. Butler was living at the forks of the Muskingum, one winter morning he took down his rifle, whistled his dog, and went out to look for a deer. 1 thin bed of snow covered the ground, and the trail of several deer was soon discovered, leading down the river. Following it up as rapidly as possible, he came to a densc thicket of considerable extent, through which the deer tracks led. Letting the dog follow the track, he passed around, and on reaching the other side beheld evidences of larger game, the tracks of a panther following the path of the deer. Sending the dog on ahead, he himself followed as fast as he could, and upon going some distance came upon the dog, lying upon its back with feet point- ing skyward, and apparently lifeless. Mr. Butler continued cautiously in pursuit along the upper bank of the river, and after walking about one- fourth of a mile he saw the panther in the lower bottom lands, about fifty yards away. Raising his rifle, he fired and wounded the animal, but not mortally. It ran off' and concealed itself among the top branches of a tree that had blown down the summer before, the dead leaves com- pletely hiding it from sight on every side. The hunter dared not approach within reach of its deadly spring, and after waiting in vain for the animal to appear, seeing that he could do noth- ing, Mr. Butler concluded to abandon the game and return home. Taking a shorter route than that by which he came, he was surprised to meet his dog staggering feebly in the same direction. Upon his arrival he found his brother Benjamin at the house, and they decided to return and ter- minate the career of the panther if possible. Mounting their horses, they called the dogs, two belonging to his brother and another one to Thomas, and soon reached the fallen tree. The panther was no longer here, but had taken refuge in a thicket not far away. The dogs soon drove it from this, and it ran up a large tree, from which

it was easily shot, and fell dead to the ground. It proved to be a panther of unusual size.

Mr. Butler was not a soldier in the war of 1812, but sent as a substitute James Biggs, who was killed at Upper Sandusky, while in service, by a large limb falling upon him from a tree which several soldiers were engaged in felling. His son, James Butler, was in the service. His father, Joseph, and two brothers, Isaac and Joseph, settled in Jefferson township a few years after he came to this township .. Another brother, Benjamin, after living a short time in Coshocton county, moved to Knox county, where he assisted, in 1805, in the laying out of Mount Vernon. Few, if any, families have given character to the upper Walhonding valley to so great a degree as the Butlers. Felix Butler, a son of Thomas, still lives, at the age of seventy-one years, just across the line in Knox county.

Another prominent pioncer settler was Robert Giffen, who owned the southwestern quarter of the township, a 4,000 acre military tract. The first owner of this section was Cairnon Medwell; after several transfers, it came into Giffen's pos- session. He emigrated to it, about 1808, from St. Clairsville. His daughter, Mrs. Stuart, recollects well the journey here. The household goods were sent from St. Clairsville in a pirogue down the Ohio river to Marietta, thence up the Mus- kingum river to the forks of the Walhonding, while the family, consisting of father, mother and four children, came overland. They had but three horses among them, and would alternately ride and walk. Mr. Giffen was originally from Virginia, but, prior to 1802, he had moved to Bel- mont county and erected a set of mills on Short creek, near St. Clairsville. Mrs. Stuart does not recollect that any settlers were living on her father's section at the time of his arrival, but very soon after they began to come in. Mr. Giflen disposed of a considerable amount of land to dif- ferent settlers, taking in full or partial payment any kind of work which they could do for him. Among these early purchasers were Martin Cox, John Ely, David and Thomas John, Timothy Hawkins, Matthew Duncan, John Wolfe and James Pigman. About 1812, Mr. Giffen repre- sented the district, to which his county belonged, in the State legislature. The State capital, where

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HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

the legislature convened at that time, was Chilli- cothe, and Mr. Griffen made the journey there on horseback. The session lasted about three months, during which time there was no vacation. He also served in the war of 1812, in Captain Williams' company. The first cabin he built stood about a mile northwest from the present village of New Castle; about three years later he erected another on the site of the village and moved into it. He was a millwright by trade and desirous of obtaining a good mill site, some- thing not to be found on his own section. This fact led him to remove to Knox county, in 1814, where he engaged in milling many years.

David and Thomas John, two brothers, were from New Jersey. When they emigrated to Ohio, they stopped a year or two in Belmont county, then about 1807 or 1808, moved out to Giffen sec- tion. They purchased land in the southwestern part of the section, now owned and occupied by Joshua Clark, and paid for it in part by clearing other land lor Mr. Giffen. David John was the only man in the township, it is said, except Philip Morgan, of a considerable later date, who abstained entirely from the use of whisky. Thomas John was a soldier in the war of 1812. Each built a large, comfortable stone house for himself in the early part of their career here. Timothy Hawkins, the brother-in-law of David, came here from New Jersey about the time the Johns did.

Martin and David Cox came several years later. Martin lived on the Hammel place, about a mile southeast from New Castle. He kept a postoffice for a number of years at Cox Cross Roads, a little farther north. He afterward moved to Sandusky, where he died. David moved to Knox county several years after he came here. Another brother, Michael, resided in Perry township.

Matthew Duncan, from Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, emigrated about 1808, to the south- western part of the Giffen section, on the place now owned by Mr. L. Lawrence. He distinguished himself in early times by building a large store house, the first of the kind erected in the township.

John Ely purchased from Mr. Giffen the land which the village of New Castle now occupies. He raised a numerous family, and afterward re- moved to Richland county.

David Meliek, who hailed from a region called, Turkey Foot, in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, was another early settler of this section. Having a great aversion to the river' he settled in the ex- treme southwestern corner of the township. John Wolfe, also from Pennsylvania, settled in the same neighborhood, on the farm now occu- pied by George Knight.

The congress land, which constitutes the south- eastern quarter of the township, was surveyed into half sections, of 320 acres each, by Silas Bent, Jr., in 1803. Unlike congress land in many other townships this was settled in an early day. In 1810, Joseph Severns, emigrating from Bucks county, Pennsylvania, entered land in sections 11 and 20. Hisfirst cabin was built on the ridge in the northwest quarter of section 20. He died in 1857, being above eighty years of age. His oldest son, Samuel, is still living in the southern part of the township. He served in the war of 1812 and is probably the oldest person in the township, hav- ing reached his eighty-sixth birthday on the 17th day of October, 1880.

The Merediths also lived in this part of the township. They were Virginians and came here as early as the Severns, perhaps several years earlier. Those of the family who lived in New Castle township were Isaac, Job and Obed. Isaac and Obed served in the war of 1812, Isaac as cap- tain of a company which he raised in this part of the county. He entered the northwest quarter of section 22, and served the township many years as justice of the peace. Obed occupied the southeast quarter of section 21, the extreme south- eastern corner of the township. Job lived on the Staats place on Giffen's section. He afterward moved to Indiana and died there. The Mere- diths were one of the best known and esteemed families in the township.

William Hull settled on the northeast quarter of section 18; also entered the southeast quarter of section 13. He died about 1814. Thomas Horton, a son-in-law to Thomas Butler, settled in the northwest quarter of section 12.

The northwestern quarter of the township forms a military section, which was granted April 3, 1800, to James Taylor, George Gillespy, " practitioner of physic," and Joseph Strong, also a physician, all of Philadelphia. Some two years

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HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

later Taylor purchased the interests of his two partners for $1,200, Pennsylvania currency. In 1805 he sold the greater part of the section, 3,272 acres, to Eli Nichols:

'Squire Humphrey, who came into possession of the remaining 728 acres of the section, the part lying east of the Mohican, was one of the earliest and best known of the township pioneers. He was a Rhode Islander and emigrated prior to the war of 1812. A man of considerable learning and intelligence, he wielded a large influence for good ; was a representative to the State legisla- ture in 1814, and for many years a justice of the peace. Other early settlers on this section were John Woods, an. individual who had a great de- sire to preach the gospel, and sometimes attempted it, though from all accounts, with ill success; a German called Conkle, whose petulent temper made him the object of sundry pranks of the mischievous backwoods urchins; Joe Beekwith and John Titus, Conkle's sons-in-law; Jacob Coke- nour, Moses Byrum and George Spurgeon. By- rum's father (also several other persons) was buried on the big mound near the forks of the Walhonding. Most of these settlers were Vir- ginians, and all were either leasors or squatters.

Eli Nichols, who owned the greater part of this section, was for many years, ending with his death, the largest land owner in the county. He settled upon his section about 1836, coming from St. Clairsville, Ohio, and was for forty years, up to the event of his death, well-known throughout the county. "His death occurred at his home, after an illness of only two days. His age was seventy-two years. His wife preceded him to the grave but a few months. His interest in educa- tion, and especially his attachment to the public school system, was often avowed. He was born and reared in the Quaker church, but in after . years disavowed the religious principles of that body, and repudiated the Bible as an infallible book. In early manhood, he took an active part in the operations of the colonization society, but soon abandoned it, and henceforward gloried in being an 'abolitionist.' His gentleness of nature made him patient amid whatever reproach he encountered in this, as in other lines of thought and action ; and it is claimed for him that, what- ever his antipathy to the system of slavery, and

his sympathy with the oppressed, he was always wonderfully lenient toward the slave holder. In his later years he became much interested in 'spiritualism,' and much of his time in his deelin- ing years was given to the study of this, and he be- came a full believer in it, continuing in this faith unto the last of earth."

His son Lloyd now has possession of this large tract of land, and continues to be, as his father was before him, the most extensive land holler in the county.

The streams of New Castle township, except the Walhonding and its two branches, Owl creek and Mohican river, are small and afford but a limited supply of water power. No mill is known to have been built across the river on either of its two tributaries, consequently the early milling operations in the township, prior to the building of the canal, must have been limited in point of power if not in number.

About 1815, Samuel Farquhar built a saw-mill on Tomica run, close to the Knox county line. After it had been running six or seven years, the dam was swept away during a freshet. In 1834, Joshua Clark built another saw-mill in the same place. Some twenty years later, he moved it far- ther up the creek, close to his residence, and run it here some six or seven years. During all this time the mill was run steadily and a good busi- ness done, as much as sixteen hundred feet of lumber being sawed a day. Then as the volume of water was insufficient to keep it going, he re- moved it.

Three-quarters of a mile farther up the creek, Joseph Mills erected a saw-mill about 1830. After several years it came into the hands of his son, Samuel, who has been operating it ever since.

A little grist and saw-mill stands on C. H. Mere- dith's place in the southeastern corner of the township. It has been running about twenty-five years.

One attempt was made to construct a dam across the river close to the village of Walhond- ing, by Walter Farmer, but it was imsuccessful. The dam was partly built, heavy timbers being sunk to the rock-bed, which were to be firmly bolted together with immense rods of iron, when financial embarrassments and the projection of

J DM'Kissen Dık.

FARM AND RESIDENCE OF HUGH M'FADDEN, TUSCARAWAS TOWNSHIP.

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HISTORY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY.

the Wolhonding canal, discouraged the enter- prise and led to its relinquishment.

This same individual acquired quite a notori- ety by attempting to utilize the same water re- peatedly in running a mill. He erected a saw- mill at the mouth of Dutch run, about two miles below Walhonding, and to the machinery, set in motion by the water power, he attached a pump, the purpose of which was to pump the water back into the race. Notwithstanding this "freak," Mr. Turner was an intelligent Englishman. He pos- sessed considerable means, and figured quite prominently in the affairs of the township forty years ago. He was an extensive land owner, dealt largely in stock, expended his money lavishly, made extensive improvements which the condi- tion of his property at that time did not warrant, and, as a natural consequence, lost heavily.

The township has not been without its distiller- ies, though their tenure upon life has been some- what precarious. One was located on the C. Staats' place. It was a little copper affair, set up by Joe Meredith, and operated a few years only. The grain for this still was mashed at a mill over the line in Knox county. The "California" dis- tillery was an institution located about a mile and a half east of New Castle, operated by Daniel Berry and John Lewis. It was started about 1840, and kept up five or six years. During this time it did an extensive business in the manufacture of whisky. A steam saw-mill was also located here.

John R. Gamble owned a still house in the northwestern part of the township which, during a brief career, produced large quantities of the popular beverage.

About twenty years ago a great many oil leases were taken on ground in New Castle township in the vicinity of Walhonding, the "signs " indicat- ing its existence here. A number of wells were sunk but no oil of consequence was found. Two wells, sunk by Peter Neff of Cincinnati, about a mile above the village, however, produced an im- mense outflow of gas, which at the time was re- garded as valueless. About six years ago Mr. Neff conceived the idea of utilizing this gas in the manufacture of lamp black, and erected works for this purpose. The experiment was successful and the works have been in operation ever since.

Several thousand gas jets are kept burning con- stantly, night and day, and a very superior arti- ele is produced in considerable quantities. Mr. Neff, it is understood, contemplates making ex- tensions to the works soon.

A tannery, situated on George Knight's farm, in the southern part of the township, has been running for about twenty years.

A wooden bridge was built across the river at Walhonding about 1854. It got out of shape, was regarded by many as insecure, and was re- built in 1860. Again giving way, it was super- ceded by an iron bridge in 1872. Some of the material of the old bridge was used in the ma- sonry of the new. A mistake in dimensions was made, increasing the expense of the masonry, which (almost wholly for labor) cost some $1,200. The masons were Buchanan Brothers and N. W. Buxton. The superstructure was furnished by the Coshocton Iron and Steel Works, and cost $7,844. The ice, in the winter of 1874, carried away a pier and two spans of this bridge. The latter were replaced by the Cincinnati Bridge Co. (of which for a time the Coshocton Iron and Steel Works was a partner), in 1875.

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History of Coshocton County, Ohio, its past and present, 1740-1881, Part 92

Author: Hill, Norman Newell, jr., [from old catalog] comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A. A., & co., Newark, O., pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Newark, Ohio, A. A. Graham & co. Number of Pages: 854

Author: Hill, Norman Newell, jr., [from old catalog] comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A. A., & co., Newark, O., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Newark, Ohio, A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 854