USA > Ohio > Delaware County > History of Delaware County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio biographical sketches etc. V. 1 > Part 72
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73
Russell Bigelow Moses, still living in the neigh- borhood. Gardner settled here in 1820, and died about 1835. His wife survived him forty-four years. A son, J. T. Gardner, lives near Powell. and is now numbered among the old citizens of' the township. His father was the first burial in the cemetery at Powell. The pioneers of this set- tlement are all dead years ago. David Buell was another Connecticut man who came in early. He had two sons, Jarvis and Edmund; the first died on the homestead, but Edmund is still living, and is a resident of Orange Township. David Thomas was from Connecticut, and settled one mile below the old Presbyterian Church, in 1810. Here he kept a tavern in an early day, also the stage stand which was on the route from Franklinton to Sandusky. His widow is still living in the neigh - borhood of their early settlement, at the age of ninety-two, but he is long dead.
Another section of the land embraced in Liberty Township,, was that known as the Stanbery section. Owing to a curve in the river, the survey was a little short of a regular section, being about 3,500 instead of 4,000 acres. It was originally patented by some old Revolutionary General, and sold by him to Dr. Jonas Stanbery, who was long a resident. of Zanesville, and finally died there. He purchased the section some time previous to the commencement of the war of 1812, but never occupied it. A son, Charles Stanbery, owns 500 acres of the original purchase, who, with his son, occupies it at the pres- ent day. The Stanbery family is an old and aris- tocratic family. They were originally from New Jersey, but removed to New York, and, in 1814, to Zanesville, Ohio. Hon. Henry Stanbery, ex- Attorney General, is a son of Dr. Jonas Stanbery, and a brother to Charles Stanbery, Esq., of this township. Mr. Stanbery can scarcely be termed an early settler of Liberty, but the land he owns and upon which he lives has been in the family ever since its purchase by his father in 1809-10. Be- fore it was occupied by Mr. Stanbery it was a kind of hunting-ground, both for white and red men, who camped during their hunting excursions at the Otter Spring, where the Stanbery residence now stands. It was also occupied by squatters at an early day. One of these transient individuals was a man named Pasco, who was remarkable for having a very large family of children, and for being a millwright by trade. He built a mill on the Scioto River in early times, but for some cause it was not much of a success. He finally moved to Indiana. Another squatter on the Stanbery
420
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
section was Peter, an " American citizen of Afri- can descent." Nobody knew him by any other name than Peter. He, like Pasco. was a remark- able man in some respects. For a number of years he lived in this vicinity with his family. His cabin was known far and wide, as a station on the underground railway, and his doors were always open to fugitive slaves fleeing to the land of free- dom. He had two sons, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson; the latter died while they lived there, but Washington, who was a great fiddler, married a white girl, and then went to the north part of the State.
Isaac Patton came from the southern part of the State, in 1809. His father was a native of the Old Dominion, and came to this State in the latter part of the last century. Isaac, upon his removal to this township, settled near where Bieber's Mill now stands. He was a Captain in the war of 1812, and many of his old neighbors were in his company. Mr. Patton is still living, and has been a resident of Liberty Township for more than seventy years.
Benjamin Bartholomew was one of the early settlers in the south part of the township. He located first in Worthington, about the year 1814, but in a short time removed to this township, where he died about 1856-57. His son, Major Bartholomew, died here five years ago. Caleb Hall, the father of Mrs. Bartholomew, who was- a native of Massachusetts, came to Ohio in an early day, but stopped in Worthington, and afterward moved into the county. The last years of his life were spent with his daughter Mrs. Bartholomew, and he died, in 1877, at the age of ninety-two years. He belonged to a family remarkable for its longevity. His father lived to be over one hundred years old, and, at the celebration of his hundredth anniversary at the old home in Massachusetts, the following, pre- pared for the occasion, was a part of the proceed- ings : "Centennial Celebration of the one hun- dredth anniversary of Mr. Joseph Hall, in the Methodist Church at South Walpole." I. Read- ing Scriptures ; II. Voluntary, by the Choir ; III. Prayer; IV. Hymn; V. Address, by the Rev. Messrs. Merrick and Mudge ; VI. Closing Ode, written for the occasion by Mrs. Smith Pond :
" O, Holy Father, by thy power, To see this wondrous day I'm brought ;
And now, in life's declining hour,
My gracious God, forsake me not.
" The voice that sung my cradle song Is hushed ; and that dear household band Have fallen, silent, one by one, While I among the living stand.
" What changing scenes, what grief, what joy, I've seen and tasted here below ; What stirring themes my thoughts employ, The present, past-and future too.
" Amid the crowd, I stand alone; Well may my soul be deeply moved ;
A HUNDRED YEARS have come and gone- And still I live, and still am loved. .
" My children, hearken-live for God ; Earth is but vanity at best ; Search, daily search, His written word, Obey its precepts and be blest.
" Friends, fellow-men and kindred dear, To each the greeting hand is given ; God bless you all. while lingering here, - And fit our souls to meet in Heaven."
This comprises a list of the early settlers of Liberty, so far as we have been able to obtain them. No pains have been spared to secure a complete history of the pioneers, but, after the lapse of three- quarters of a century, the task is too great to re- quire of mortal man. Doubtless, many facts per- taining to the early history of the township, and many pioneer incidents, have been lost with the death of the original settlers. A few more years and all of the early history would have been buried in oblivion, and nothing left but a few mod- ern incidents.
As descriptive of the life the early settlers led for a number of years after locating in the wilderness, we will again have recourse to the article of Mr. Goodrich, from which we have already made lengthy extracts. He says : "In 1808, the town of Delaware was laid out and the county organized, after which the country was rapidly settled up. The encroachment of the white man-as it natu- rally would-irritated some of the Indian tribes until they became hostile, and were readily induced to become allies to the British in the war of 1812. Although too infirm to join the army himself, Capt. Carpenter was represented in the ranks by his five sons-Ira, John, Alfred, 'Nathan and James-as well as by many of his neighbors. No one but the father was left at home (at Carpen- ter's) to provide for the family, or defend it against the hostile Indians, who sometimes made incursions in their vicinity. Nathan Carpenter, Jr., in going to the war had left at home a wife and babe. They lived about half a mile from the
-
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
421
old home. Laura, the youngest daughter, then sixteen years of age, went to stay with her in her solitude. She had looked after the various little charges around the house one evening, and had gone inside to attend to the housework, when, looking out of the window into the moonlight, she saw two savages approaching the house. Having just heard of the murder of an entire family but a short distance from their neighborhood, she was considerably startled, and exclaimed, 'My God, Electa!' (which was the name of the young wife who sat in the middle of the room with the child in her arms) 'what do you suppose these critters want ?' Electa understood too well her meaning, and was unable to utter a word. In order that they should not surprise her, Laura advanced, opened the door, and propped it open. then, seizing the ax, she retired behind her sister's chair that she might the better conceal her motions and the ax, with which she had determined to defend them to the last. The savages, armed to the teeth, walked up to the door, came in, and began their parley by making pretenses, during which time Laura re- marked that they could obtain what they wanted at her father's house upon the hill. 'Oh, your father live near here ?' 'Yes,' she answered ; 'only a short distance.' After a few more words, they shouldered their guns and started, as they said, for the 'big house.' Thus the young girl had saved their lives by artfully insinuating that help was near. After they were gone, she re- ceived the congratulations and thanks of her sister, who, during this time, had sat speechless and as white as death, which each moment she expected to suffer. After barricading the house, Laura, ex- pecting their return, stood guard with the ax until morning, when they returned to the manor-house. The savages had not gone there, as they pretended they would, but, on the contrary, as soon as they were out of sight, they went into the woods and were never seen afterward."
When the Carpenters first settled in the county, Indians were numerous, and they had several vil- lages within its limits, but none situated in the present township of Liberty. Says Mr. Goodrich in his .sketch, speaking of the arrival of the Car- penters : " Unlike the Ohio, the shores of the Olentangy were swarming with Indians, by whom our party was received with many tokens of friend- ship, notwithstanding the stories they had been told of their hostile and savage nature. The Wyandots predominated in numbers and enlighten- ment, followed in their order by the Senecas, Del-
awares, Shawanees, Choctaws and the Taways, who were noted for their uncleanliness." Although none of their villages were in Liberty, yet its forests were a favorite hunting-ground. The fine springs along both the Olentangy and the Scioto, presented fine sites for camping-places, especially Otter Spring, on the Scioto, where Mr. Stanbery now lives. This was a famous camp-ground, and old "Leather-lips," an Indian chief, whom many of our readers doubtless still remember, made it his camping-place during his annual hunt for many years. It was known throughout the country on account of its water being so cold, and the name Otter became attached to it from the otter found here in early times. The trail from Sandusky to Chillicothe passed by it, and thus it was a well- known watering place to travelers between those points. And it is even a tradition in the neigh- borhood, that a detachment of Harrison's army, during the war of 1812, camped at the spring on its way to join the main army in the North, and the old road where the troops passed is still pointed out to visitors to the place.
From the cranberry marshes of Sandusky, the trail followed along the west bank of the Olen- tangy River to Franklinton. Over this trail, the Indians used to pass in the cranberry season with their long trains of ponies laden with cranberries for the markets at Franklinton and Columbus. and where they bartered their berries for flashy cotton bandana handkerchiefs, powder, lead and "fire- Water." A. S. Goodrich, who was born and reared in the township, and enjoyed an extensive acquaintance with the Indians, and had their confidence and good will, relates many incidents and amusing reminiscences of the "noble red men." He has now in his possession a war-club that was presented him by a chief, who told him it had been in his family for many generations. It is a rather ugly-looking shillalah, and, wielded by a strong arm, is still capable of cracking any number of skulls. Mr. Goodrich moved this Indian chief, who lived in the neighborhood of Sandusky, and his family and household traps, to Cincinnati, when he left for the reservation of his tribe, and, as a token of his friendship for Goodrich, the chief presented him this family relic, which the pale-face has preserved to the present day.
On the Carpenter farm, which is still owned by Hiram B. Carpenter, a grandson of the original settler, are frequently discovered what are supposed to be Indian graves. Skeletons and human bones have more than once been turned up by the plow
-
422
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
on this place. That they are Indians, there is but little doubt, as they are interred altogether differ- ently from the Mound-Builders, there being no mound raised above the graves. In all yet dis- covered, as Squire Carpenter informed us, a large flat stone was laid in the bottom of the excava- tion, other rocks set up around the edge, the corpse placed in this vault and covered with earth. Quite a number of such graves have been discov- ered on this farm ; so many, in fact, as to lead to the belief that it was once used, to a considerable extent, as an Indian burying-ground.
In addition to the dangers to be apprehended from the Indians, there were other sources of peril and annoyance to the pioneers. The woods were full of wild beasts, some of which were ferocious enough to attack people when pressed by hunger. Wolves, wild-cats and panthers were plenty, and sometimes troublesome. Many other minor perils beset them, but received little attention from them, on account of their insignificance as compared to the savage barbarities which took place in many parts of the country during the war of 1812. Then there was the danger of starving to death, of which some entertained wholesome fears. If a man ran out of provisions, he could not go to Columbus or Delaware and purchase a supply, for these places were unborn, and, had they existed then, there was nothing to buy with. Men had hard work to scrape together money enough to pay their taxes. Sugar and coffee were from 25 cents to 75 cents per pound ; and everything else that the pioneer had to buy was correspondingly high, while that which he had to sell was correspondingly low. And thus the earlier years were spent in the great wilderness.
The first mill built in Liberty Township, and the first in Delaware County as well, was built in 1804, by Capt. Carpenter. It was run by water- power, and used both for sawing and grinding. The buhrs were cut out of large concretions, a geo- logical formation that abounds in plentiful profu- sion in this section of the county. But they did ample work for the demands made upon them. and proved a great convenience in the neighbor- hood. It furnished both meal and lumber for the early settlers, and was the only establishment of the kind in the county for several years. Just how long it did supply the neighborhood with these necessaries is not now known. But, some ten or fifteen years later, John Case built a saw- mill on the Olentangy, a little below Carpenter's. It finally ran down, and lay idle for quite a while,
when Harvey and Pomeroy Pasco, whose father built a mill in the southwest part of the township, on the Scioto River, in an early day, obtained possession of it, and repaired it. This was prob- ably about 1835, and for a few years the old mill was run by them. About 1842, Jones, Gunn & Co. commenced the large stone mill near the same site, which is now operated as a woolen factory. It is a large and excellent stone building, three stories high above the ground, and cost originally some $5,000 or $6,000 -- more really than it was actually worth. It is now owned by James Henkle, and is operated exclusively as a woolen factory, though it does not run more than about three months during each year. A grist-mill was built about 1843-44, half a mile above 'Squire Carpenter's, by Knapp & Glenn. Three or four years later it was bought by Mr. Bieber, and since his death it has been owned by his son, James Bieber. It was originally a wooden building, but, a few years ago, Mr. Bieber commenced a store building of large dimensions, which cost a consid- erable sum of money, and which he has not yet succeeded in completing or utilizing, beyond oper- ating a saw-mill in the first story of it. The grist-mill still occupies the old wooden building, and does excellent work. It comprises three run of stones, and, if ever put into the new building, with new machinery, it will be a first-class mill in every respect, the best, perhaps, in the county. In an early day, a saw-mill was erected where the Olentangy Valley Mills now stand. There ap- pear to have been several stockholders in it, among whom were Edmund Goodrich and Martin Case, and Dr. Pickett was also interested in it. A grist mill was added some years later. It is now owned by Herman Muelzer, a man who thor- oughly understands his business and is doing well. It is believed that Sebert Hinton originally built this mill, but no one can say definitely that he did? That he owned it once is well known, and that it changed hands several times, without paying its owners large dividends, before it became the prop- erty of Mr. Muelzer, is also known. He, it is said, is the only man that has ever made money out of it. Another of the pioneer mills was erected by Joseph Cellar, one mile above where the Liberty Church now stands, but on the oppo- site side of the river. The dam was finally washed away, a damage never afterward repaired. The property is now owned by Mr. Rutherford.
The first bridge in Liberty Township was built over the Olentangy at Liberty Church, where the
MAJOR BARTHOLOMEW LIBERTY TP.
423-424
425
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
Lewis Center and Sulphur Spring road crosses. It is a wooden structure, upon stone piers, and was built, the piers by the people, and the superstruct- ure by the county. It was originally built some twenty-five or thirty years ago, and with occasional repairs it still serves the purpose. There are two other bridges spanning the Olentangy in the town- ship, one at the Olentangy Valley Mills, known as the Bartholomew Bridge, and the other at Bieber's Mill. The latter is an iron bridge, and was built in 1875. The Bartholomew bridge, at the Olen- tangy Valley Mills, was built in 1876: the stonework was let to J. L. L. Jones, and the superstructure to the Canton Wrought Iron Bridge Co. It is a substantial piece of work. Another bridge, in which Liberty is interested, is the Stan- bery bridge, over the Scioto River, where the road from Powell, running west, crosses. It was built in 1877 ; the stonework by Glick, Corbin & Har- riott, and the superstructure by the Canton Wrought Iron Bridge Co. Like the Bartholomew bridge, it is an excellent iron bridge, and is sub- stantially built.
The first road through Liberty Township was merely the improving of the old Indian trail which wound along the Olentangy, and was the route from Sandusky to Columbus, or Franklinton, as it then was. This road has been worked at and improved, until it is the best in the township. Liberty is not as well provided with turnpikes and gravel roads as some other portions of the county. So far as dirt roads, or mud-pikes, as they are called -- and the name has been singularly appropriate the past winter-they are well supplied, and this class of roads are good enough during the summer season. The road running east and west through Powell has been recently graded, and with a good coating of gravel would be a most excellent pike. The citizens of the township are working to have it thus improved-at the expense of the county, while. all, except those immediately interested, oppose such a measure, and maintain that the people whom the road will benefit most should pay the expense of building it. Without entering into a discussion of the matter, we would suggest that the completion of the road, by graveling it, would be a grand improvement to the section of the town- ship through which it passes, and one that is much . needed.
Capt. Carpenter died, and was buried on the old Carpenter homestead. Upon a high point of land, bearing marks of artificial elevation-a cemetery, perhaps of the lost race-with a freestone slab, moss-grown and dimmed with age, she calmly. sleeps. Although the first to occupy this pioneer metropolis, many of her loved ones now slumber around her. By her side rests the partner of her joys and sorrows, who followed her ten years later, and, near by, John Carpenter, her son, who died a short while before his father. Several other mem- bers of the family occupy places in this little bury- ing-ground, all marked by neat freestone slabs, but much dimmed by age. The tombstone of John Car- penter is profusely illustrated with the emblems of the Masonic Fraternity, thus denoting that he was a member of that ancient and honorable order. The square and compass, trowel, crow, pick and spade, the anchor and ark and many others, familiar to the members of the mystic tie, adorn it. Squire Avery Powers, who came to the country with Capt. Carpenter, died early, and was buried on his farm, which adjoined Carpenter's on the north. One of the Welch brothers, noticed as early settlers, was also an early death in the town- ship. The first birth is contested by B. Powers and Jeremiah Gillies. The date of Gillies' birth is given as August 7, 1803, and it is said that Mrs. Carpenter maintained that he was born before Powers. One of the first marriages of which we have any record was that of Ebenezer Goodrich and' Miss Betsey Dixon. They were married at Middie- bury, as the settlement about Powell was then called, in June, 1813, by Aaron Strong, a Justice of the Peace. This worthy couple is still repre- sented in the township by numerous descendants, who rank among the best citizens. Nathan Car- penter and Electa Case were married as early, per- haps, as those given above.
Education and religion received the early atten- tion of the citizens of Liberty. The first school taught in the township, of which there is any definite information to be obtained, and, no doubt, the first effort made to advance the cause of education, was taught by Miss Lucy Carpenter, afterward Mrs. James Swiniton. The exact date of this school is not now remembered, but was probably within a few years after the first settle- ment was made. It was taught in the first cabin The messenger of death entered the pioneer settlement in the year 1804, a little more than three years from the time of the first settlement. built by Carpenter, and used by him as a family residence during his first summer in the wilder- ness. The school was supported on the old sub- On the 7th of August of this year, the wife of i scription plan. An Irishman named Haligan was
16
426
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
among the early teachers in this section. From this small and insignificant beginning, educational facilities have increased in proportion to the de- mand, until no township in the county surpasses it in this regard. There are eleven school districts in the township, in all of which are good, comfort- able schoolhouses well supplied with modern fur- niture and fixtures. A few years ago, after build- ing the bridge over the Olentangy at 'Squire Car- penter's, Districts 5 and 6 were consolidated, and a new district formed in the southern part of the township, still retaining the same number of districts as before the consolidation of 5 and 6. Of the eleven schoolhouses, six are brick and five are frame ; all commodious buildings and in excel- lent repair. Good schools by competent teachers are maintained for the usual term each year.
The date of organization of the first religious society in Liberty Township is scarcely to be ob- tained at this distant day. The old Liberty Church, as it is called, was formed so long ago, that no one now living can tell the precise time of its organization. The almost universal answer to the inquiry is, "Well, it has been in existence ever since I can recollect." And, in regard to the old church building, the same answer is given. It is well known as one of the oldest church socie- ties, as well as one of the oldest church buildings, in Delaware County .. The society was originally organized by Rev. Joseph Hughes, of Delaware, but at what date we are unable to learn. Several years later, the church was built. It is located on the west bank of the Olentangy, where the White Sulphur Spring road, as it is called, crosses the river, and is still doing service as a temple of worship, though it has several times been modern- ized and remodeled, and presents an appearance now to the casual visitor of being as good as new. The present membership of this church is not far from 130, under the pastoral ,charge of Rev. Thomas Hill. The Sunday-school, superintended by E. G. Taggert, is one of the most flourishing in the county, outside of towns and cities. A fact that is deserving of mention is, that for fifty years, it is said, not a Sunday has passed, rain or shine, without Sunday school, nor a week without the regular weekly prayer-meeting of the church. Deacon Leonard Monroe was a zealous member of this church, and labored "in season and out of season" for the cause of Zion, and to him, more than to any other one man alone, perhaps, is due the high attainment of both church and Sunday school. A cemetery was laid out adjacent to the |
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.