History of Delaware County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio biographical sketches etc. V. 2, Part 28

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 28

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The first schoolhouse built in this township was near where Mr. Day now lives, and was called the " Block Schoolhouse," and was built in about the year 1825. Mr. William Wolfe taught the first school, and took his pay in dried apples, at least in part for his wages. There was no market

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

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nearer than the town of Delaware for his goods, and he had no team. The only way or means he had to convey his fruit to market was to carry it on his back and on foot. He had two loads and was compelled to make two trips. The distance he had to go was about fifteen miles, and it took him two days to make a trip. The first day, about" the hour of high twelve, he felt the necessity of calling off for rest and refreshment. He had now reached a more densely settled community. He came up to a small cabin and went in, and asked the privilege of taking rest, and called for refreshment, all of which was granted. The only occupant of the house, although unknown to him at the time, proved to be a charming widow. In a short time, the dinner was prepared, and he ate heartily of what was set before him, and when he had finished his dinner, he offered to pay his hostess for her hospitality, but she refused to accept any pay. On his return the following day, he was again fatigued, and called for rest and re- freshments, and he was again hospitably received and treated. Before leaving her house, he told his hostess he would be back in a few days on his way to Delaware with more marketing, and that unless she gave him her consent to become his wife, he would regard his life as a miserable fail-

ure, and that he must have a positive answer on his return. When he made his next trip, she told him she couldn't say no. This ended the court- ship, and they were soon married. Whether this story is truth or romance, the writer does not vouch, but he relates it as it was related to him. This schoolhouse has multiplied in number over the township, and now in every neighborhood. there is, at convenient distances, a comfortable schoolhouse, where a school at the public expense is kept up on average more than six months in the year, and taught by a competent teacher. The thirty years previous to the year IS80 witnessed a great change in the character, habit and customs, as well as in the fortunes, of the people of Porter Township. An agricultural people, they are en- terprising, intelligent and industrious, and free from every manner of vice and immorality. Grog-shops and houses of ill-fame are not to be found in the township, and the citizens generally, if not universally, are well fed and well elothed, and are prosperous and happy. If the "Taways," who lived in the township a half-century ago, were to return to Porter with their long beards and buckskin apparel, they would produce as much sensation among the present inhabitants as a menagerie of wild animals.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

TRENTON TOWNSHIP-ORIGIN OF THE NAME-TOPOGRAPHICAL-SETTLEMENT-BIRTHS, DEATHS, ETC .- SCHOOLS-MILLS AND QUARRIES-CHURCHES.

" How dear to this heart are the scenes of my child- hood,

When fond recollection presents them to view." -Woodworth.

M ANY of our elderly readers will readily re- member the time when a large portion of the east half of the county was known as Sun- bury Township. It was the third township ere- ated after the organization of the county, and dates back to June 16, 1808, and was originally bounded as follows : Beginning at the northeast corner of Section 2, Township 5 and Range 17, of the United States Military Survey, thence south with said line to the south line of the county, thence east with said county line to the east line of said county, thence north with said county line to the Indian boundary line, thence west by said

boundary line to the east boundary of Marl- borough Township, thence south with said line to the southeast corner of said township, thence west to the place of beginning ; containing the present townships of Harlem, Trenton, Porter, and half of Berkshire and Genoa, in Delaware County, while the following townships, now in Morrow County, were also included in the original Sunbury Town- ship, viz., Peru, Bennington, Lincoln and Har- mony. Township after township was erected from this large scope of territory. Harlem was set off from Sunbury September 11, 1810, and Kingston June 8, 1813. In June, 1816, Genoa was set off from Harlem, and one-half of the new township was from the original Sunbury. Thus it was whittled off, until it was reduced, as we have been informed, to what is now Trenton Township, and

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

so remained until somewhere between 1830 and 1835, when the name was changed to Trenton, and Sunbury was blotted out of existence like

-" the very stars,

Yon bright and burning blazonry of God, Glitter awhile in their eternal depths, And, like the Pleiad, loveliest of their train, Shoot from the glorious spheres, and pass away, To darkle in the trackless void."

The prevailing tradition concerning this change of name is, that somewhere about the time desig- nated above, Messrs. Van Dorn, Leak and Condit, all early settlers and prominent men of the town- ship, were sitting on a log one day talking over general business matters. Finally, the conversa- tion turned upon the question of the village of Sunbury being in Berkshire Township, while their own township bore the name of Sunbury. It was suggested that the name of the latter be changed in order to avoid confusion, a suggestion that was unanimously agreed to. Mr. Leak proposed the name of Chester-his native town; Mr. Con- dit wanted it called Orange, but there was an Orange Township in the county already. So Mr. Van Dorn suggested Trenton, for the capital of his native State-New Jersey. The name was agreed to among themselves, and sent into the County Commissioners, by whom it was adopted. Thus Sunbury Township became a thing of the past, while its place was filled on the map of Del- aware County by Trenton.

The surface of Trenton Township, while it is not wholly level, can scarcely be called hilly or broken. Along the water-courses, it is a little rough and uneven, while back from the streams it is somewhat rolling, until striking the table-land, when it becomes rather level. Van's Valley, as it is called, is somewhat low, as well as the west cen- tral part, while the western and northern portions rise to quite an elevation, and incline to an almost rolling surface. The township is admirably drained by the water-courses, so that but little artificial drainage is found necessary. The principal stream is the Big Walnut Creek, which enters near the north- west corner, and, running in almost a southern direc- tion, passes out on the west line. The next stream in importance to Big Walnut is Rattlesnake Run, so called from the great numbers of that reptile that were found in the cliffs and rocks bordering it. The North Fork enters the township near the center of the east line, and forms a junction with the South Fork in the south central part of the township, runs in a westerly course, and empties into the Big

Walnut near the center of the west line of the township. There are a few other small streams, such as Culver's Run in the northern part, which runs west and flows into Big Walnut Creek. It was named in honor of a family who settled near it in the early times. Perfect's Creek, named for one of the first settlers of the township, is a little south of Culver's Run, and also runs west and empties into the Big Walnut. Dry Run is a small stream which has its source in the township and empties into Perfect's Creek. Mink Run is similar, except that it flows into Rattlesnake, a little above its junction with the Big Walnut.

Trenton Township is well timbered, and maple, walnut, oak, ash, beech, elm and other species are common in this region. At present, the township is bounded on the north by Porter Township, on the east by Licking County, on the south by Harlem Township, and on the west by Berkshire. It lies on the east line of the county, and is a full township, being five miles square, and contain- ing 16,000 acres of land.

In the early settlement of this county, it is not strange that the mighty tide of emigration flowing toward the West should not pass the fertile valleys of the Miami and Scioto. Here everything to be expected in a new country-not even excepting the ague and " milk sick " -- was found in profu- sion. Land good and cheap, magnificent forests and a delightful climate. During the early part of the present century, this tide of emigration reached Delaware County, and toward the close of the first decade, white people began to occupy the division to which this chapter is devoted. They came chiefly from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York, with a family or two from Kentucky. From the latter State came the first settlers of the township, of whom we have any account. These were William Perfect and Mordecai Thomas and their families, and their arrival is recorded in the spring of 1807. One Pearson Spinning owned 1,000 acres of military land, and from him Thomas and Perfect each bought 100 acres, upon which they settled, and at once commenced to improve. Many of their descendants are still living in the county, and from a sketch written by Middleton Perfect for the County Atlas, published in 1875, we extract considerable of the history of this town- ship. Perfect and Thomas made their settlements near the mouth of Perfect's Creek, which took its name from Mr. Perfect. The latter gentleman died in 1812, and was the first death to occur in the township. Bartholomew Anderson came also

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

589

from Kentucky, and settled in 1810 east of Per- fect's. These are supposed to have been the first settlements made within the limits of the present township of Trenton. Says Mr. Perfect in the sketch already alluded to: "Trenton is justly proud of its pioneers. New Jersey furnished skilled tavern-keepers ; the northern part of the township was settled by industrious people from the little blue State. A colony from Ithaca, N. Y., settled in the south part, and another from Pennsylvania in the west part. One of the early settlers kept two 'asheries,' and supplied Delaware with salt. and window glass for twelve years." We might conclude that these useful articles were manu- factured from the asheries, but that Mr. Perfect adds the information that they " were wagoned " (the salt and window glass, not the asheries ) "from Zanesville."

The first settlement made north of Culver's Creek was by John Culver and Michael Ely. They are noticed among the arrivals of 1809. Not long after them came John Williamson, and bought land from Ely. He was a bachelor when he came to the settlement, but, sometime during the year 1810, he married Ely's daughter, Rosanna. Their son, Madison Williamson, is re- ported as the first birth in the township. John Ginn, William Ridgway and a man named Pres- sing, came to the township in 1811. They were from the State of Delaware, but not much was learned of them. Ginn died in 1819, and the others some time afterward. They settled near each other, and came originally from the same neighborhood. James and Owen Hough came from Luzerne County, Penn., and are reckoned among the early settlers. The former settled on what is called the Johnson road, and died in 1834. His son, Bartlett Hough, now lives on the old homestead. The other, Owen Hough, left his native place in 1815, when but sixteen years old, with his father's family, and when they reached Pittsburgh, Owen stopped and engaged to work at the garrison there. He remained there about a year and then started and came through to Zanesville, reaching it on Christmas Day. He worked in Zanesville two years, and, in 1818, | open the first tavern, but Van Dorn succeeded in came to this township and settled on a farm where he now lives.

bury, a little village in Berkshire Township. He bought 1,000 acres of land in a beautiful valley which took his name, or a part of it, and is still known as " Van's Valley." The place where he originally settled is 'now occupied by Mrs. John Armstrong. The next year after he settled here. he opened a tavern, the first place of public enter- tainment, it is said, in the township, and flung out a sign upon which was painted a gilt sun, and be- neath it the mystical legend, "Center Inn." At first, this pioneer tavern was a rude log structure, but as the amount of travel became greater, and Mr. Van Dorn's reputation as a host increased, another cabin was added to the first, and then an- other and another, until four log cabins. all con- nected, were required to accommodate his extensive patronage. For eleven years he kept this " cabin hotel," and then put up the present brick (now occupied by Mrs. Armstrong), which he also kept as a hotel for a number of years. The sign of the "gilt sun " was known far and wide. and ap- peared as welcome to the wayworn traveler as the " shadow of a great rock in a weary land." The same old sign that hung in front of the log cabin inn, pointing the traveler to a place of rest. did the same service at the brick tavern for years. This was long a place of resort, where the neigh- bors met to talk of the common business affairs of the time. The brick tavern was built in 1829, and the brick of which it was composed was burned just across the road from where the house stands. The stone used for the foundations was taken from the quarry now owned by Mr. Will- iams. It was the first brick house built in the township. Van Dorn also kept a kind of grocery store, where the settlers procured some of the necessaries ; but it did not not amount to much in the way of a store. He kept it at his tavern stand from the time when he opened the tavern until 1854. Mr. Van Dorn had eight children, and was a leading man in the community in which he lived. John Leak also came from New Jer- sey. He bought land from Van Dorn and settled just east of the inn. There was a strong rivalry between him and Van Dorn as to who should getting the start of him. Silas Ogden came in 1820, and, like Van Dorn and Leak, was from New Jersey. He settled on what was known as the State road, and kept the first tan-yard in the township.

Another of the pioneers of this township was Gilbert Van Dorn, from the State of New Jersey, in 1817. When he settled in Tren- ton there were but two families living on the In 1823, a man named Oliver Gratax came to road between the Licking County line and Sun- ! the township. Of him, Mr. Perfect said : " He

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

wore leather breeches, full of stitches, a fawnskin vest and a coonskin cap." He was a bachelor when he came, but recognizing the divine order of things, that " it is not good for man to be alone," even in the wilderness, he soon' took unto himself a wife in the person of a Miss Rosecrans. Ira Pierson came from New Jersey in 1838, and set- tled near where Condit Post Office is located. He came by team and was twenty-nine days on the road ; he died at the age of eighty-five years. Jonathan, Alvin P. and Smith Condit came also from New Jersey in 1832-33. , The former settled on Walnut Creek, where his son, E. J. Condit, now lives, and his descendants are scattered over the eastern part of the township, and are among the prominent men of the community. Alvin settled near by, and cleared up a farm ; Smith died in one month after coming to the settlement. Lyman Hendricks came from Rutland, Vt., and located first in Berkshire in 1812, but some time after came to this township. . William Hendricks, a brother, was a soldier in the war of 1812. A man named Roberts was the first permanent set- tler on Rattlesnake Run, where he lived for many years.

After the close of the war of 1812, emigration rapidly increased, and this division of the county soon settled. Farms were opened, forests felled and the lands cleared up. To the sturdy husband- men is due the transforming of the great forests of Trenton into the fine flourishing fields and farms now to be seen in this section.

" Let not ambition mock their useful toil Their homely joys and destiny obscure,"

for it is to the hardy " sons of toil " we are in- debted for the general prosperity of the country. In other words, they are " the power behind the throne, that is greater than the throne itself," and to stop the wheels of the " agricultural machine" would soon affect every other branch of business enterprise.

Beyond the settlement of the township, and a sketch of its pioneers, with a glance at its stock- raising and agricultural resources, there is little history of particular interest connected with Tren- ton. No villages or towns dot its landscapes ; no manufactories other than a mill or two and a few quarries ; no stores are kept ; even the old taverns of the pioneer days have passed away, and, as we have said, there is but little history beyond that of its settlement. It is a fine agricultural region, and considerable attention is likewise devoted to

stock-raising, many of the farmers making it a specialty. The Cleveland, Columbus & Mount Vernon Railroad passes through the township, and has aided materially in developing its hidden resources. Through this channel, its excellent timber finds a market, as well as the stone from its numerous quarries, which are becoming quite an extensive business since the building of this rail- road. In a word, the citizens of Trenton are a moral and upright law-abiding people, attend strictly to their own business and leave other people to do the same. In writing its history, we acknowledge our indebtedness to Mr. Harry Vaile, of Delaware, for the principal facts, and to a com- munication of Mr. Perfect's, which is said to be substantially correct.

The first death recorded in Trenton Township was William Perfect, Esq., one of the first settlers. He died in 1812, about five years after his settlement. Since then many pioneers of Trenton have followed him to the land of shadows.

" The saint who enjoyed the communion of heaven, The sinner who dared to remain unforgiven, The wise and the foolish, the guilty and just, Have quietly mingled their bones in the dust.

" So the multitude goes, like the flowers or the weed That withers away to let others succeed : So the multitude comes, even those we behold, To repeat every tale that has often been told."

But few of the early settlers of the township are still living. Most of them lie sleeping in the little graveyards. The first birth which occurred was that of Madison Williamson, who was born about the commencement of the war of 1812. He was a son of John Williamson, an emigrant of 1809, who, in 1810, was married to a Miss Ely, and was the first marriage, probably, to take place in the community. But the present popu- lation of Trenton is proof of how well the pioneers followed the divine command to " go and multiply; and fill the earth."

Van Doru, as we have already stated, kept the first tavern upon the site where Mrs. Armstrong now lives. Silas Ogden, upon his settlement in the neighborhood, opened a tan-yard, the first of these useful establishments kept in the township. Perfeet and Thomas, soon after their settlement, planted out orchards, which were the first of- forts made at fruit-growing. The first post office was established by A. C. Leak, and was kept in a == == cabin about half a mile east of Van Dorn's tavern stand. But the name it bore, and the date of its establishment, we could not learn. George Aker-

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

son kept a store in an early day, a little north of Condit Post Office. This post office is located at Condit Station, on the Cleveland, Columbus & Mount Vernon Railroad, and is the only station on this road in the township. Martha J. Culver is the Postmis- tress at Condit. Her father, B. Culver, also keeps a store. He succeeded Wayman Perfect as a mer- chant at that place. These are the only stores really deserving the names ever kept in the town- ship. Van Dorn kept a kind of grocery, on a small scale, at his tavern, but made no pretensions toward a regular store.

$414 ; local tax for schoolhouse purposes, $822.53; amount paid teachers during the year, $1,308.60 ; wages per month-male teachers, $32; female teachers, $22 ; for fuel and other contingent pur- poses, $120.45; balance on hand September 1, 1879, $1,519.61. Teachers employed- males, 4; females, 7. Pupils enrolled-males, 159 ; fe- males, 109. Average monthly enrollment-males, 112; females, 91. Average daily attendance --- males, 110 ; females, 85. Pupils enrolled between sixteen and twenty-one-males, 39, and females, 25.

Trenton Township is well supplied with good Mr. Perfect, in his sketch of Trenton in the County Atlas, to which we have several times re- ferred, says: "The first saw-mill in Trenton was built by Middleton Perfect and Hazard Adams in 1835. There are no grist-mills in the township." Mr. Vaile, in his notes on Trenton, to which we have referred also, mentions several mills. Among them is one built by John Van Sickle. which is was " built in 1835." It is described as having a "brush dam " when first built, but this was after- building stone, and a number of quarries have been opened, which, since the building of the Cleveland, Columbus & Mount Vernon Railroad through the township, are growing into an extensive and profitable business. The first quarry, or the first stone quarried in the township, was in an early day by Mr. Allison. A large quarry was opened, some years ago, on the : noticed as the " first grist-mill in the township, " and farm of Joseph and John Landon, on the Big Walnut Creek. Another large quarry was opened by Williams and Knox. A great many others ; ward replaced with one made of planks. It was have been opened in different parts of the town-

situated on Big Walnut, half a mile northeast of ship, but principally for the use of those who : Sunbury. Van Sickle sold out to E. M. Condit, opened them. But with the railroad facilities en- joyed, the stone business must necessarily prove very profitable to this section of the county.

who operated it from 1855 until 1862, when he sold it to Jacob Boyd. The latter gentleman sold it to his brother, Henry Boyd, who had pur- chased the old Brailey mill. This mill was built in 1845, on the creek, half a mile below the Van Sickle mill. Some time after Boyd bought it. he bought the Van Sickle mill from his brother, as noted above, transferred most of the machinery from it to the Brailey mill, and so put an end to the Van Sickle mill. Another of the early mills was Stockwell's saw-mill, but of it little was learned. J. Condit had a saw-mill on Perfect's Creek, which did good service for a number of years. Alvin P. Condit also had a mill on the North Branch of Rattlesnake Run. Williams' saw-mill is situated on Big Walnut at the mouth of Rattlesnake Run, just on the township line. It was built by Crane at an early day, and is still in operation.

The people of Trenton have always been the friends of education. In an early day we find the pedagogue among them, and, in the primitive schoolhouse of the pioneer time, with the youth gathered around him, he taught them the simple rudiments of " reading, writing and arithmetic." One of the first schoolhouses, perhaps the first in the township, was built near the Big Walnut on the Mount Vernon road, and about eighteen rods north of the bridge. It was of the usual pioneer pattern, a description of which will be found else- where in these pages. The first winter school taught in this humble temple of learning was by a man named Goop, and the first summer school was taught by Clarissa Sturdevant. These schools were before the day of free schools, and were taught by subscription, each family sending their children, Politically, Trenton has always been Democratic, except in 1840, when the slogan of "log cabins " and " hard cider," carried the day for Gen. Harrison, and it may have been the strong districts, all containing substantial and comfortable : Democratie sentiment of Trenton that caused the political somersault of Vice President Tyler and paying according to the amount of time sent. Illustrative of the marvelous march of education, we find in Trenton Township to-day seven school schoolhouses of an estimated value of $3,200. Other statistics of the schools are as follows: after the death of Harrison. Anyway, fromn that Balance on hand in 1878, $1,694.39 ; State tax, | day to this, it has kept the faith, and, when necessity

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. .

required, it has rolled up Democratic major- ities. In the late struggle between the North and the South, the township stood valiantly by the Union, and sent out many of her bravest and best to maintain its supremacy. Their deeds are faith- fully recorded in another chapter of this history.

The early pioneers, as a general thing, were pious people. Although they would not have hesi- tated long about engaging in a rough and tumble fight, and did not hesitate to take a dram (we often hear old people say, however, that there were not so much infernal fire in the whisky then as now), yet they enjoyed themselves, religiously, quite as well as the most fastidious church-goers of the present day. The religious services were simple (and came from the heart), the church buildings were simple, the methods of conveyance to and from church were simple, and the manners, dress and intercourse of the people who attended church were simple in the extreme. But some of the old pioneers still assert that the natural organs of the voice, with which they praised God, were to be preferred to the organ now pumped by a cheap boy, and skillfully manipulated by a popular but not pious young lady or gentleman, robed in all the fashionable toggery of the day, instead of the good old linsey-woolsey or jeans. Let us not quarrel with them about the matter; they have sacrificed their preferences to our modern methods, and many, if not most, of them are praising Him on harps such as " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard."

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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 28

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