History of Delaware County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio biographical sketches etc. V. 2, Part 17

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 836

USA > Ohio > Delaware County > History of Delaware County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio biographical sketches etc. V. 2 > Part 17

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. ·

versity at Delaware. The present Pastor is the Rev. Jonathan Look. The Wyatt Cemetery is the historical burying-place of this vicinity. It is situated across the line in Marion County, being located in that part of Marlborough set off to that county in 1848, and the white marble slabs mark the resting-place of the earliest settlers of Marl- borough Township. Here lie the Wyatts, Drakes, Brundiges, and others whose names are familiar to the reader. The cemetery is pleasantly situated on a knoll near where the old fort once stood, and in sight of the military road. The occasion of the first burial in this cemetery cannot be ascertained, as a number of the soldiers of 1812 found their last resting-place amidst the evergreens that adorned its surface. Among the number was Capt. Flynn, who, after serving at different parts of the border, had been assigned to Fort Stephenson, then com- manded by Col. Croghan. Soon after the repulse of the British and Indians by the brave defenders of that fort, the Captain received his discharge and accompanied by Maj. Daniels, who had also fought nobly, started in a hired conveyance to join their families in Chillicothe. While on their way and when near the present town of Marion, they were fired upon by the Indians, and Capt. Flynn was killed and Maj. Daniels badly wounded. The teamster succeeded in reaching Fort Morrow. and there in the Wyatt Cemetery, the Captain was bur- ied. Maj. Daniels ultimately recovered and car- ried the news of Capt. Flynn's death to his family. Two soldiers, while on their way home from Lower Sandusky, were also fired upon and both killed by the Indians. When the bodies were found, the heart of one had been cut out and laid upon his breast. They were both scalped and otherwise horribly mutilated. Their bodies were taken to this cemetery and interred. Three sol- diers of the war of 1812 died at the cabin of Na- thaniel Brundige and were interred in the cemetery. A Capt. Yarnold, who was in Perry's victory on Lake Erie, is also buried in this cemetery.

The first school was opened by Robert Louther in a small log house east of the Olentangy River from Norton. Within the walls of this rude structure, the children of the pioneers gained their knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic, which was limited, as the advantages were meager. Many an old citizen of these primitive times well remembers the trials he had to undergo in getting a little "learning," of the long tramps through the deep snow and through dark woods, where lurked the panther and bear. All these hardships come

before the vision with peculiar brightness as the contrast with the present condition of things is appreciated. To-day the township is dotted with schoolhouses located in convenient places, and the farmer boy can easily gain the information that his father worked so hard and tramped so far to attain. The following are the school statistics of the town- ship :

Money on hand September 1, 1878 .. $ 503 22 Total amount of money received in year end-

ing September 1, 1879. 1,592 09

Total expenditures during year. 1,000 32

Number of districts or subdistricts 5

Whole number of schoolhouses. 5

Value of school property. $3,000 00

Number of teachers employed during year-

gents, 4 ; ladies, 6- total .. 10

Average wages of teachers per month-Gents $29 00 Ladies 25 00

Average number of weeks of session.

Number of pupils enrolled within the year ---

boys, 112; girls, 108 -- total .. 220

Average daily attendance-boys, 68 ; girls, 58 126

By these statistics it will be seen that although Marlborough is only half a township in area, it will compare favorably with its sister townships in educational matters.

Several of the old pioneers that came and settled in this township had been in the war of the Revo- lution. Capt. Wilcox has been mentioned pre- viously as having gained his title in that struggle. The Wyatts, Brundiges, Coles, Reeds, Drakes, Trindle, Hannaman, Dix, Sharp, Hinton, Foust and White, are some of the names of those that participated in the 1812 war. The same heroic spirit that actuated the fathers in the old wars was to be seen, in a striking manner, in their sons. when the call for troops was made in the great re- bellion. The Twenty-sixth Regiment, Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry, seems to have drawn more than any other from this township, although the follow- ing regiments contained men from this locality; The Ninety-sixth Regiment, Fourth Regiment, One Hundred and Twenty-first Regiment, Eighty- second Regiment, Twentieth Regiment, Forty- eighth Regiment, Thirty-second Regiment. Sixty- sixth Regiment, Fifth Regiment, United States Army, and the President's Light Guards. Hugh Worline, One Hundred and Twenty-first Regi- ment, died in Danville Prison; G. Worline, One Hundred and Twenty-first Regiment, died in hospital. J. Weiser, Company D, Eighty- second Regiment, was taken prisoner at Get- tysburg; exchanged in 1864, wounded at Atlanta,

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

and died on reaching home. D. Helford, Com- pany B, Forty-eighth Regiment, died in hos- pital at Memphis. A. G. Taylor, Company G, Twenty-sixth Regiment, and V. B. Thompson, Company C. Twenty-sixth Regiment, were both captured at Chickamauga, and were starved to death in Andersonville Prison. . A. Sales. Com- pany B, Forty-eighth Regiment, was killed at Shiloh. Henry Houseworth, Company C, Twenty- sixth Regiment, missing at Chickamauga. 0. Lyman, Company A, Eighteenth Regiment, United States Infantry, captured at Chickamauga, starved to death at Andersonville. Of the two forts or block-houses in Delaware County, for the protection 'of the settlers, the one near Norton, called Fort Morrow, was by far the largest and most interesting. It stood near the Greenville treaty line, in the midst of the forest, which was unbroken for miles in every direction save by, now and then, a small clearing, upon which stood the lone cabin of a settler. The old military road wound round the knoll upon which the fort was built, and continued on its way north to Sandusky. The fort consisted of two block-houses situated at a short distance from each other, in direction northeast by southwest. Between the two was the brick tavern of Nathaniel Wyatt. The whole was surrounded by a palisade of strong oaken timbers substantially set into the ground and then sharpened on the top. One'of the block-houses was built by the citizens of round logs. The first story was run up to a height of about eight feet, and the second was made to project over that of the first about four fect. The floor of this projection had small openings or port-holes ; thus enabled those inside to better defend against a close attack or attempt to set the structure on fire by the besieg- ing party. The upper story contained embrasures so arranged that rifles could be discharged in any direction. The door was composed of three-inch plank, double barred across and upright. To test it, a volley was fired into it at short range. In the story below slept the children, and above the grown people stood sentry. The other was built by the Government, and did not differ materially from that built by the citizens, except that the logs were hewn and the structure more compactly. built. From this fort sallied forth that gallant command, who, with banners and bandannas streaming in the wind, went to the relief of Lower Sandusky, under Drake. Not a vestige of the fort remains, but there are several old settlers remaining who still remember its formidable appearance, and the

great red letters, " Fort Morrow," painted on one of the logs in the southwest corner.

This is the only village in Marlborough Town- ship, and is a very small place, celebrated chietly for its antiquity. It is situated just south of the boundary line between Marion and Delaware Counties, the line running just along the northern portion of the town. The following is a transcript taken from the books in the Auditor of State's office. The record is in Book C. The exact date of its platting cannot be ascertained ; when the plat was recorded, the date of recording the same was never put down, but the record just before bears date 1806, and the one after it 1807, so it is safe to conclude that it must have been recorded in 1806 or 1807. The following is the record :

" We, the subscribers, proprietors of the town of Norton, do certify that this is a true plat of the lots and public ways laid out of and established in said town. The in-lots are numbered in red, and the out-lots in black. The in-lot marked A is given for a space whereon to erect public buildings, either for the State, County or Town, and the in-lot marked B, is given for the use of the first religious society which shall be formed in said town, for their meeting-house, and for a green walk around said meering-house. In-lot 46 is given for the use and benefit of a school in said town, and in-lot No. 49 for the use and benefit of said relig- ious society forever. Said town all south of Spice street is in Range 19, Township 6, Section 2, of the Congress Military District, and the balance a part in Range 19, Township 7, Section 3, and a part in Range 19, Township 7, Section 4, in Franklin County.

Signed JAMES KILBOURN.

SAMUEL H. SMITH,

For himself, and as agent for WILLIAM C. SCHENCK, JOHN CUMMINGS, JOHN BARNETT.

When first laid out in 1806 or 1807, there was not a settler in the town, at which time it was within the limits of Franklin County, Delaware County not having been organized until two years afterward. The old military road as originally laid out passed directly through the town, and formed the main street. The Marion pike ents the town diagonally through the center. The town was laid out in rectangular form. and con- sisted of ninety-four lots. The first man to put up his cabin in the town of Norton was William Reed. The first church in the town was the Baptist Church, and the first goods sold in the town was by Case; at this town was established the first post office, and in later years the first edifice that could be called a store. To-day, Norton consists of a few frame and one or two brick houses, two churches, one or two stores, blacksmith-shop. a

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

523

schoolhouse and town house. This last, in which public meetings are held, and in which the town- ship records are kept. is situated just east of the more central portion of the town, near the Olen- tangy River. The building is a frame structure, and formerly was occupied by the United Breth- ren as a meeting-house, but this organization dying

soon after the church was built, it was sold to the . township. The town of Norton at an early date had a State reputation. It is older than Delaware, and its situation being so close to the Indian boundary line and contiguous to Fort Morrow. gave it a wide reputation.

CHAPTER XXII .*

TROY TOWNSHIP-DESCRIPTION AND TOPOGRAPHY-EARLY TIMES-SETTLEMENTS-THE MAIN SETTLEMENT - EARLY FACTS AND INCIDENTS - RELIGION AND EDUCATIONAL- ROADS, BRIDGES, ETC .- WAR AND POLITICS-TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.

"Their history is written In their race, and like the stars They quietly fulfill their destiny."

T TROY TOWNSHIP was organized from Marl- borough and Delaware Townships on the 24th of December, 1816, as the following record will show. "The commissioners have this day granted the petition of a number of the inhabitants of Marlborough and Delaware Townships, pray- ing for a new township of the following bounda- ries, to wit : Beginning at the range line between Ranges 19 and 20, thence east on the line in the center of the sixth township to the line between Ranges 1S and 19, thence south to the center line of the fifth township, thence west to the line between Ranges 19 and 20, thence north to the place of beginning. The same is hereby erected into a new township by the name of Troy." It is situated north of the central portion of the county in Range 19, Towns 5 and 6, and is composed en- tirely of what is known as United States military lands, and is part of the tract which was set apart by act of Congress, passed June 1, 1796, to satisfy the claims of officers and men who participated in the war of the Revolution. In area, the township is five miles square, and comprises four sections of four thousand acres each. Moses Byxbe, Sr., who took an active part in opening up Delaware County, owned large tracts of the bottom lands of this township, which he sold to the early settlers at prices varying from $2.50 to 84 per acre.

Troy Township is bounded on the north by Marlborough, on the east by Oxford and Brown. on the south by . Delaware, and on the west by

Radnor. The Olentangy River flows south through the township, a short distance east of the central part, receiving from the east its largest branch, called the " Horseshoe." from the fact that it flows into the Olentangy at what is kuown as the " Horseshoe " bend of that river. From the west it receives the waters of Wild Cat Creek, Norris Creek and Clear Run. The river has a winding course, with angles and curves almost innumerable. The geological formations are identical with those of Marlborough Township. On the west the cor- niferous limestone ; the Hamilton group following the course of the river, and the Huron shale out- cropping on the eastern bank. The land near the river, and in localities where it has been broken by the smaller streams, is rolling, but in the west it becomes level. The soil on the river bottom is a rich loam, and a long narrow strip of land of the same character is met with in the western part of' the township bordering on Radnor. The soil on the uplands is a yellow clay, which produces well, and is held in high favor as wheat lands. The surface is rolling enough to drain well, and artiti- cial drainage is little used. The farms are under good cultivation and well stocked. The timber is valuable, consisting of oak, sugar maple. elm, ash. walnut and hickory. This township, lying as it does near the city of Delaware, possesses an excel- lent market for its productions, and its good pike roads leading to the city give it an advantage in this particular over some of its neighbors. In many other respeets, however, it is less fortunate. Not a city, town, village, nor even a post office is to be found within its territory. and the people are compelled to go to Delaware, Eden Station, Delhi. Norton and even to Ashley for their mail. There

* Contributed by H. L. S. Vaile.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

is not a mill, excepting perhaps a portable saw-mill, nor a store of any kind within its boundaries.

It has been said that the pioneer of to-day. hastening to the rich prairies of the Far West in the easy railroad car, turning the soil with the steel plow, building his eabin from lumber bought at a flourishing railroad station near his claim ; locating, in many instances, on land of the Govern- ment, which requires only that he shall live upon it to be his; gathering his crops and sowing his seed by means of labor-saving and improved agri- cultural machinery, knows absolutely nothing of the great obstacles which were met and overcome by the pioncer of this wooded country in the be- ginning of the present century. The early settler of Troy found the Indians in full possession of the soil. Game of almost every description was to be found in abundance. The waters of the rivers and creeks teemed with fish, and these, together with other favorable surroundings, rendered the locality especially attractive to them. At " Horse Shoe Bend," in this township. the Mingoes had a large village. To this tribe belonged Logan, who immortalized his naine by his wonderful eloquence, and by his magnanmity toward the white prison- ers that fell into his hands during the Indian wars of his time. Other tribes, once powerful like the Mingoes, were to be found at times in the Scioto Valley and upon the banks of the Olen- tangy, but war, pestilence and famine had reduced them in numbers until they were but remnants of their former greatness. Still the settlers had enough cause of fear, as is shown by the following incident. The Delawares and Wyandots. who fre- quented the locality at one time, joined forces and sent a war party into Pennsylvania to depredate upon the inhabitants. After several skirmishes, in which a number of prisoners were taken, among them a young white girl. the Indians started for their camp. situated on Clear Run, in this town- ship. They were pursued, however, by a party of whites, among whom were two brothers of the captive girl. They traced the band to the Olen- tangy, but on arriving at' a place near where the old stone mill is situated, just north of Delaware, they lost all trace of them and were about to re- turn, when one of the party noticed smoke ascend- ing above the trees, a mile or two toward the ! north. The rescuing party cautiously advanced, and, coming upon the Indians unexpectedly, drove them into the woods and rescued the girl wuharmed.

As already stated, Troy Township was formed in part from the township of Marlborough. Many

of the early settlers of the one are entitled also to the same honor in the other. Therefore, if some of them find themselves in their neighbor's log cabin instead of their own, they will bear in mind the diffi- culty of keeping within proper geographical limits, when boundaries have been so often changed. The line which separates Troy and Marlborough territori- ally, crosses the Olentangy just north of the old Marlborough Baptist Church, and can easily be located, but the line that separates the old settlers of the two townships is as tortuous as the Olen- tangy itself. The Wyatts and Brundiges had settled in the northern part of Marlborough Town- ship as early as 1806, and Foust and Drake com- ing in shortly after, and others, there were soon a number of cabins where the town of Norton now stands, but the lands which are now comprised within the limits of Troy Township were not settled to any great extent for several years after. In 1814, when James Norris and his family came to the county, there were only seven families in the township, viz., William Reed, Levi Hinton, Duval, William Hinton, David Dix, Joseph Cole and Duncan. For a few years after the creation of Troy Township, emigrants came in considerable numbers, and the lands were rapidly taken up.

Joseph Cole, one of the earliest settlers of this township, was originally from New York. From that State he emigrated to Virginia, but the highly colored stories, told by his friends and relatives, of Ohio, determined him to make that State his home, and in the latter part of 1808 he came hither, reaching the settlement on the Olentangy, near Norton, in December of that year. Soon after his arrival he purchased 640 acres of land in what is now the extreme northeastern part of this township, where his son, Joseph C. Cole, now re- sides, and upon this he immediately proceeded to erect a cabin. All the trials and hardships inci- dent to pioneer life surrounded him here. Often he was forced to leave his wife and family of little ones at their cabin home in the woods, while he made a trip to Zanesville for the necessaries of life. The nearest grist-mill was at Franklinton, in Franklin County, and hither he journeyed to have his corn ground. He crected the first brick house in Troy Township on the spot his cabin occupied. The brick entering into its construction were burned on his place. Mr. Cole was elected Justice of the Peace in 1815, an office which he held for twenty-one years. In all this time, not a single decision of his was reversed by the higher courts. Often he would pay the constable his fee, and

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

525

settle a case between disputants, without letting it go to trial. He was one of the original founders of the old Marlborough Baptist Church in 1810, and it was at his cabin that the first meetings of that society were held. He died in 1849, and sleeps in the graveyard adjoining the old church, of which he was a prominent member. His wife survived him and died in 1868, at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. The only members of his family now living are Margaret, Hugh and Joseph. The latter, the youngest of the family, was born in what is now Troy Township. Mar- garet, the eldest child, was eleven years of age when her father's family came to this locality, and of necessity shared in the hardships that sur- rounded them. She it was who, when her father was away, had to go alone into the woods, and fol- lowing the sound of the tinkling bell, through underbush and swamp, find and drive home the cows. Many times, in company with Sarah Boyd, an adopted daughter of John Duncan and after- wards Mrs. William Sharp, she would go to the barn, put down a floor of wheat, jump on a horse and after treading it out separate the chaff from the grain by means of a sheet. She once made a trip with her mother through the woods to Frank- linton for the purpose of getting a set of dishes. but on arriving there they were unable to find two pieces of the same pattern, and so were compelled to return without them. When the alarming news came that Drake had been defeated and her father slain by the Indians, she bravely took her sister by the hand and, in company with little Hugh and her mother, went to Delaware. On the way, becoming very thirsty, she knelt down and drank water from a horse track. She mar- ried Eleazer Main, a soldier of 1812, and as his widow draws a pension. She still lives in the old brick house built by her husband, and is a silver- haired matron of eighty-two years.

Hugh Cole was a babe when his father came to this township, and the first event he distinctly remembers was, when about five years old he, in company with his two elder sisters, went over to the State road to see Harrison's army pass by. At the time of Drake's defeat, the family, having fled from their homes, were taken into a farmer's wagon, at the town of Delaware. Impelled by curiosity, young Cole drew aside the curtains of the wagon, at the end, and startled the rest by the cry of " Here comes Daddy," and sure enough, with his horse on the gallop, his father did come and soon proclaimed the hoax. For four years, ; returned to Pennsylvania, married, and in the

Hugh carried, on horseback, the mail from Dela- ware to Mansfield, commencing at the age of six- teen. During the service, he experienced some exciting adventures. At that time, the road to Mansfield was nothing but a pack-horse trail, and the trees were so close to it that one could touch them from his horse. Mr. Cole relates that upon one occasion he was riding along, utterly uncon- scious of any danger, when his horse suddenly stop- ped and seemed determined to go back toward Dela- ware. Following the gaze of his horse, he thought he discovered a man's arm protruding from behind a tree. He had heard there were highwaymen in the country, but never having been molested, he had paid but little attention to it. He felt for his pistol, and found to his dismay that he had left it at Delaware. What to do he did not know. His impulse was to take the back track. Turning his head, he saw the shadow of another man on the trail behind him. Seeing that there was but one alternative, and that was to push on, he leaned forward upon his horse as low as possible, and sinking the spurs into the animal, made a dash to pass the tree behind which the man was stationed. Just as he got opposite, the robber sprang forward and seized him by the leg with one hand, and struck ; at him with a dagger which he held in the other. On account of the rapidity with which the horse was going, the robber miscalculated, and the dag- ger sunk into the saddle, just back of its intended victim. . Clinging tightly to his saddle, the mo- mentum of the horse tore him loose from the : vice-like grip of the robber. Thus rescued, he reached Mansfield in safety. Shortly after this he married. At present, he is living in Ashley. David Dix. Sr., familiarly known as the " Green Mountain Boy," came from Vermont, and when ten years of age went with his father's family into Wayne County, Penn. His father was a militia man, and was with Washington at the siege of Yorktown. David remained in Pennsyl- vania until he arrived at his majority, and then started for himself. A few years subsequently, having accumulated some money, he came to Ohio, and settled on the Olentangy: in what is now Lib- erty Township, in 1807. He lived for a time when he first came to the county, with an old Quaker by the name of Mordecai Mitchner. Upon his arrival he began prospecting and looking for a suitable location, which he found at last in this township. The land is now occupied and owned by his son David Dix, Jr. In the fall of 1807, he

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

spring of 1808 moved his family out to Liberty Township and into the cabin of the old Quaker. In the fall of 1808, with the assistance of two hired men from the settlement in Liberty Town- ship, he put up a small cabin, on the land he had located, a short distance from the present frame structure of his son. They passed the winter, however, at the Quaker's cabin, and in the spring of 1809 moved to their new home. At this time, their only neighbor was Joseph Cole, and it is said that the first knowledge Cole had of the new arrival was through the sound of Dix's ax. After getting well settled in his cabin, Dix immediately began clearing, and in the following fall four acres of corn showed that he had not been idle. He was the first clerk of the old Marlborough Bap- tist Church, and held that position for many years. His death took place August 26, 1834, in the fifty-fourth year of his age. He was buried on the farm, not far from the site where his cabin was located. Among the next arrivals we find the Hintons and Duvals. Levi Hinton, a half-brother, and William Hinton, a full brother of Col. Hin- ton's, came from Kentucky and settled near the center of the township. They are both dead and their families are scattered, not one of that name now living in the township. Duval was a relative of the Hintons, and came with them from Ken- tucky. He settled on the farm now occupied by Charles Blymyer. John Duncan came to Troy Township from Virginia, as early as 1810. He was originally from North Carolina, and was a brother-in-law of Joseph Cole. At his death he left no children, and his wife also dying, not a rel- ative survives him. Comfort Olds, came to this township at an early date, and followed the river up to the " Forks." The only cabins he passed were those of David Dix and Joseph Cole. Na- than Roath and Pierce Main came as early as 1810. The former settled on land near David Dix. His wife died soon after he came, and was buried in the little cemetery on Dix's farm. This was the first adult death in Troy Township. The latter came from Pennsylvania and settled on land in the northeastern part of the township. He has been dead a number of years, and lies buried in the Marlborough Church graveyard. Joseph Curren came to Ohio from the Old Dominion, and settled in Troy Township about 1812. He bought land from Joseph Cole, and, after building a cabin and clearing a few acres, sold out to James Norris, Sr., in 1814, and buying land in Marlborough Town- township, moved to that locality.

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History of Delaware County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio biographical sketches etc. V. 2, Part 17

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 836

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 836