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 9
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
are those of the Arnolds, Stewarts, Asa and John Gordon. Little more is known of these persons, save the Gardners, whose descendants are now liv- ing in this neighborhood. The rest accomplished but little for the permanent settlement of the town- ship and soon left to be heard of no more. The Ferson family all married and lived here until their death, save James Ferson, who lived here some three years, when he went to Michigan and en- gaged in teaching the Indians. In 1825, Sam- uel Patterson, with his father and mother, and two sisters, settled on the property where he now lives. These settlements were all on the east side of the creek. In the year preceding, David Patterson, Cyrus Chambers. Thomas McCloud and Nelson Skeels had established their homes on the west side. Lee Hurlbut seems to have preceded them some years on this bank of the Alum Creek. He came here soon after the war, in which he served a short time as substitute for his father. and established himself where he now lives. The marks of the squatter were found here at that time, but there remains now no clew to his identity. Mr. Hurl- but's father came from Pennsylvania and was the father of twenty-three children, most of whom were living and came into the township with him. Mr. Hurlbut was a good hunter and spent his leisure time with his gun, frequently bringing in five deer as an ordinary day's trophy. He was a man of strong proslavery proclivities and was passively opposed to the operations of his neighbors in for- warding runaway slaves. He gave the name of Africa to the spot properly known as East Orange Post Office, because of its antislavery propensities, a name that is likely to endure as long as any other.
The first mill in this township was a saw-mill, erected and owned by John Nettleton, about the year 1820, in the southeast part of the township. Fifteen years later it was changed to a grist-mill, and at once became noted for the fine quality of its flour. It 1838, it was sold to one Lichter, from whom it came into the family of the present owner, A. L. Tone, in 1845. The same stones do duty now as of old. and they maintain, thanks to the present excellent miller, the old-time prestige of the mill. Later, a saw-mill was built further to the south, by Fancher, but it has long since passed away.
Here, perhaps, the story of the early settlements should properly close, and yet the historian is loath to part company with those who lived so near to nature's heart. Plucked from homes of comfort
! and rudely transplanted in the wilderness, they drew from nature the conforts and adornments of a home, and decked their firesides with those social and domestic virtues which so often force from these later times a sigh for " the tender grace of a day that is dead." From the necessities of the situation, the hospitality of the early settlers was as spontaneous as it was generous, and they early became imbued with that spirit of philanthropy which Horace has embalmed in verse, --
"Non ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco."
Every new-comer found a cordial welcome, and willing hands were ready to aid in rolling up & cabin. Neighborhoods for miles about were closely allied by early social customs, which, in the spirit of true democracy, only inquired into the moral worth of their devotees. The lack of markets made food of the plainer sort abundant and cheap. Hospitality was dispensed with a lavish hand. and travelers were not only housed and fed without cost, but, all possessing that touch of nature which makes the whole world kin. he was sent on his journey, bearing with him the kindly benedic- tions of his host and a heart-felt God speed. The very earliest times, however, were not marked with such generous profusion. The first settlers were- often driven to the very verge of starvation. and for years were forced to make long. wearisome journeys through an unbroken wilderness. over unbridged streams, frequently on foot. to procure the necessaries of life. For a year Mr. McCum- ber's family lived almost entirely without meat of any kind. Game abounded, but there were no hunters in the family, and the demands of the clearing prevented the development of any possi- ble latent talent in that direction. For weeks the family of Mr. Norton depended solely upon bread made from Indian corn grated up; and all were forced to go as far as Circleville with wheat for flour. Mr. Elsbre relates how his step-father and himself went out to Franklin County, thirteen miles east of Worthington, for the first meat they had. There they bought a hog, killed, dressed it, put it in bags and carried it on their shoulders home.
The difficulty the early settlers met with it ac- quiring stock can hardly be appreciated ar this day. Sheep were unknown and horses were only less un- familiar. Cattle and hogs were easily kept. so far as feeding was concerned, but another dificulty involved them. The woods abounded with wolves and bears which soon learned the toothsome qual-
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
475
ities of beef and pork. No end of devices were invented to protect these valuable adjuncts of the early settlement from these wild marauders, but with limited success. Time and again were the early settlers aroused from their sleep to find the hope of a winter's supply in the clutches of a bear, or hopelessly destroyed by wolves. Hogs were allowed to breed wild in the woods. Occa- sionally they were brought into a pen for the pur- pose of marking them, by sundry slits in the ears. Such occasions were frequently the scenes of ex- treme personal danger. and called forth all the in- trepid daring inculcated by a life in the woods. The animals. more than half wild, charged upon their tormentors. and then it was expected that the young man would quickly jump aside. fling himself upon the back of the infuriated beast, and, seizing him by the ears, hold him sufficiently still to perform the necessary marking. These hogs were sold to itinerant buyers who collected them in droves, taking them to Zanesville, swim- ming the Muskingum on their way. The shrewd settler always sold his hogs, the buyer to deliver them himself. This often proved the larger part of the bargain, and the dealer, wearied out and disgusted, would be glad to compromise the matter by leaving the hogs and a good part of the purchase price with the settler. The distance of markets was a great source of discomfort to the early settler. For years, salt. and iron of any sort, could only be procured at the cost of a journey of from twenty to sixty miles. to Zanesville, Cir- cleville or elsewhere. Mr. Samuel Ferson relates that on the event of his marriage. desiring to buy a new hat for the occasion, he went to Worthing- ton, Delaware and Columbus, and could not sell produce enough to buy the hat. He had five dol- lars in silver in his pocket, but the scarcity of that metal made it doubly valuable. There was no other resource, and he reluctantly produced the price of. the hat. This scarcity of currency was another very serious obstacle with which the early settler had to contend in this township; and various de- vices were adopted to mitigate the evil. "Sharp shins." or, in more intelligible phrase, divided silver-half and quarter dollars-were largely in local circulation, but, as these were current only in a limited locality, it afforded only a temporary relief. Another device. adopted later. was the
issuing of fractional currency by merchants, in
denominations as low as six and a quarter cents.
barter. Notes were given to be paid in neat cat- Exchange among farmers was simply a system of
tle or hogs. There was also a distinction made whether these were to be estimated at cash or trade price. When the note was due, if the principals could not agree as to the value of the animals the matter was adjusted by arbitrators.
The difficulties of travel in the early day nat- urally suggest themselves, and yet it is impossible at this day to realize the situation. The only roads were a succession of "blazed" trees, while every stream flowed. untrammeled by bridges, to their destination. Gradually the necessities of the case demanded greater facilities, and the road was chopped out, so that by dint of skillful driv- ing and strong teams, a light load could be brought through on wagons. The mail was carried on horseback, and this was the only thing that might be called a public conveyance. An incident re- lated by Mr. Ferson gives a vivid picture of some of the difficulties encountered, and of the perse- vering energy by which they were overcome. His brother, William, who had settled at Columbus, had come to Orange to visit his brothers. before he returned to the East not to come back again. He had no team of his own, but if he could get to Zanesville by a certain time, he could get trans- portation with a man who made periodical trips to Baltimore, with a six-horse team and wagon to match. He prolonged his visit till the last mo- ment, and then started with his effects and his family in a neighbor's wagon for Zanesville. On reaching the Big Walnut, the stream presented anything but an inviting appearance to the impa- tient traveler. Swollen by a freshet, the water. banks high, rushed along with a frightful current, bearing upon its surface large trees and masses of drift-wood. Like Caesar at the Rubicon, there was no way but to go forward. A rough " dug- out" was discovered on the other side of the river, and, by dint of vigorous shouting, attention was secured from the inhabitants of a cabin near by. To the increase of their perplexity, it was learned that the man was away from home, but the woman.
nothing daunted, when she learned their position.
completely dismembered, its contents divided in prepared to ferry them across. The wagon was
sinall packages, and this frontier woman, with the nerve and skill of a Grace Darling, landed every article safely on the other side. The horses were
brink of the stream and witnessing his brother's trying incidents of his life, his standing upon the craft. Mr. Ferson describes it as one of the most as possible, to prevent their upsetting the insecure swum across, the teamster holding them off as far
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476
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
wife and three children tossed, as it seemed, hither banks of Alum Creek, and on these lines emigra- tion seems to have come in. It was not long before these main routes were blazed out, and this sufficed until the winter of 1812-13. During the and thither in the mad current of the river. Another incident, related by Squire Strong, of Lewis Center, illustrates the capabilities of the women of the early settlements. though of a more : war of 1812, these roads became of vast impor- domestic character. The scene is laid in Norton Village, in 1819. A girl who had been working for Mrs. Wilcox, of that place, had had a very attentive young man, and, coming to the conclusion to accept each other for better or for worse, they decided to go to her home in Knox County to have the marriage ceremony performed. They invited her brother and Squire Strong, then a young man always ready for a frolic, to accompany them. Each one furnished his own conveyance, as it was done on foot, and on Saturday night they reached her home, having accomplished the twenty-eight miles in some nine hours, the bride being, in the language of Squire Strong, " the best horse of the lot." After the preaching services on the follow- ing day, the ceremony was performed, and the guests sat down to a wedding-feast better suited for men and women of such physique than for the dyspeptics of a later day. Such a ready adapta- tion of means to ends, and such persevering energy in overcoming the natural obstacles of their time, may well cause the octogenarian of to-day to sigh over the degeneracy of our times.
tance in a military point of view. All the stores for Harrison's army, as well as powder and shot from the State capital. had to pass over these two lines of communication. and it was no unfrequent thing to see long lines of pack-horses bearing supplies from Chillicothe to the army. During the winter that Harrison quartered at Del- aware, a detachment of twenty-five men was sent to put up bridges over the streams, and to chop out the road through the Norton settlement. A like work was done for the Alum Creek road. which was, perhaps, more used for the army than the other. The soldiers detailed for this duty obeyed with great reluctance. The axes with which they were provided proved to be poor things made of cast-iron, and broke to pieces at the first trial. They were then forced to borrow of the settlers, and as all could not be supplied a part took their turn. each day at hunting. a turn of affairs they seemed to enjoy. The roads thus laid out sufficed, with what work the settlers put upon them each year. In 1820. the State road was laid out, and the citizens of the townships No history of these times seems to be complete without some' reference to the Indian, and yet there is but little to be said of him in connection with Orange Township. The treaty of Greenville had removed his habitation above the northern line of the county before the early settlers came. The abundance and variety of game, however, at- tracted numerous hunting parties of the Wyan- dots, but their visits were marked by nothing of any special interest. Occasionally a party, with : skins or sugar to sell, would pitch their camp on some spot about which lingered some Indian tradi- tion, and served as an attraction for the children of the settlers. Sometimes, on a bright night, the children would steal upon them unawares, and watch their uncouth gambols on the moon-lighted 1 sward, but, on being discovered and approached by the braves with threatening gestures, they needed no second bidding to retire. There is no record of any disagreement with the settlers of this town- ship, nor of their appearance later than 1812. along the line made " bees " and cut it out to the county line. On January 31; 1826, the Legisla- ture passed an act chartering the Columbus & Sandusky Turnpike Company. They were given the right to appropriate land and material very much as they pleased. The road-bed was eighteen feet wide. graded up from the sides where ditches were constructed eighteen inches deep, with toll- gates every ten miles. Mr. C. P. Elsbre contracted and built seven-eighths of a mile of this road. and afterward kept the toll-gate, near Mr. Gooding's farm, until it was removed. This road at once became the main thoroughfare for through travel. The stage line used this pike and all transportation was greatly benefited by its construction. Some years afterward, however, it became a great nuisance. The road was neglected ; the stage line and heavy teaming ent it up and rendered it almost impass- able, at certain times of year, for any but those who could afford to sacrifice horse-flesh in the wholesale style of a stage company. This, natur- Beyond the few marks of the surveyor, there were no roads to guide the first settler save the Indian trails. These seem to lead somewhat along ally, gave rise to considerable dissatisfaction, and a movement was inaugurated which dispossessed the monopoly of this road, though not without the line where the pike now is, and along the ; some resistance from the company. In this town
١
MARMON
Nicholas Money
(Deceased)
THOMPSON TP.
477-478
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
479
Mr. Elsbre, as gatekeeper, made a vigorous defense of the property put under his protection, even, it is said, to the extent of brandishing his rifle. He, however, succumbed to numbers, and the toll- gate was soon a thing of the past. There seems to be some doubt as to the time when this road reached Orange. It is put in 1835 by those in position best able to know, and other dates seem to agree with this time. It must be remembered, how- ever, that such an enterprise was of greater difficulty at that time than it would be now. Capital was less readily enlisted in such enterprises, and facil- ities for building such a road far less abundant.
In 1835, Anson Williams bought of De Wolf, who owned Section No. 3, a thousand acres covering the site where Williamsville now is. He first established himself in the southeast part of this tract, but, in the following year, came to the site of Williamsville, and, in December of that year, laid out what he promised himself would soon be a thriving village. The first man on the spot was, probably, William Dutcher, who purchased land from Mr. Williams, and settled there the year before. Mr. Williams' son-in-law, Isaac Bovee, also preceded Mr. Williams some months. Prep- arations were at once began to realize on his san- guine hopes in regard to the village he was found- ing. He built a large frame house for hotel purposes, and opened up, in one apartment, the threefold business of grocer, storekeeper and liquor seller. It is hardly to be expected that his anticipations would have taken so lofty a flight, unassisted by the imagination of others, and it is suggested that a Mr. Saulsbury, who lived near, a carpenter and joiner by trade, with a sharp eye to business, stimulated the natural ambition of Mr. Williams. The event proved that the prospect of the village's future growth was built on a sandy foundation. There was, at this time, a good hotel further north, where the stage changed horses, and which continued to do the bulk of the tavern business. This hotel was built of brick, in 1827, by Mr. George Gooding. Mr. Saulsbury was once or twice elected Justice of the Peace, and added to the importance of the aspiring village, by establishing the first manufactory of the township. In company with Squire Truman Case, he obtained permission of the State Penitentiary authorities, who then monopolized the business, to manufacture grain cradles. It is said that they turned out a superior article, using the artificial bent snath, which was then a novelty. Mr. Saulsbury has been lost sight of, but Messrs. Williams and Case died in the
township, leaving a number of descendants, who are still there. Nothing now remains of Williams- ville to mark the site of its former aspirations, save a church, built by the Methodists, but now occupied by the United Brethren.
Lewis Center as a village dates from the com- pletion of the railroad through that point in 1850. The first settler in or very near that spot was John Johnson, who built his cabin in 1823, just east of the railroad, in what was then but little more than a body of water diluted with a little earth. The spot is marked by a well he sunk, and is now a good piece of meadow land. The Johnson family is remembered as a rough, hardy family, to whom even the ague had no terrors. A cabin was rolled up in the moisture, and a log bridged the way to the door' The first store kept at this place was by McCoy Sellers, and stood near the railroad track when it came through. Tile building is still there, and is occupied as a resi- dence by Mrs. Colflesh. The name was given by William L. Lewis, whose widow still resides there. At the time the railroad was built, the company desired to make a station at that point, it the land could be donated. Mr. Lewis and his family had lived there, but at this time he was in Cali- fornia, his family being in the East. His prop- erty in the West was left in the care of Mr. Elsbre, who communicated the proposition of the railroad company. After consulting her friends, Mrs. Lewis gave her consent, and it was decided to make this the stopping-place in the town. Mr. Lewis returning soon afterward, found great objection to the location of the depot, and the company finally abandoned the site. Through the influence of friends, he afterward waived the objection, and the present depot was placed there. Lewis Center now contains, in addition to a good cluster of resi- dences, the usual country store, a grocery, a ware- house, a shoe-shop, two blacksmith-shops, a cooper- shop, which turned out 6,000 flour barrels during last year, a good-sized school building, and two churches. A liquor saloon ekes out a scanty sub- sistence here. The post office is kept in the store and has two mails per day. A lodge of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows is established here. They were organized in 1870, and built a hall for their meetings. By some mismanagement on the part of some one, the lodge has become hopelessly involved, and the prospect at this writing is, that they will surrender their charter.
Orange Station had its origin in the difficulty attending the establishment of Lewis Station.
480
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
When the site was given up there, Mr. George Gooding, the elder, offered the company the use of ten acres so long as they would keep a depot there. This proposition the company accepted, and have maintained an office there until within the year past, when it was vacated. When this station was first established, Jarvis, who had kept store at Williamsville, moved his trade to that place. He left in the second year of the late war-1862 -and was succeeded by a small grocery, which went with the depot. A post office was estab- lished here, but that was closed in the latter part of 1878.
East Orange Post Office does not seem to have had any special founding, but, like Topsy, "just growed." It is located on the east side of Alum Creek, where the roadway narrows between the hill and creek. It contains one or two houses and a blacksmith-shop, beside the Wesleyan Church building.
The Methodist denomination was probably the first church influence that found its way into the wilderness of Orange Township. A Methodist settlement on the east of Alum Creek is among the earliest traditions, and a church of that de- nomination was established in this neighborhood as early as 1828. Later, another was organized at Williamsville, but seems to have died out at an carly day. In 1843, the fierce agitation of the slavery question in that body throughout the land, culminated here, as in many other places, in a separation-the antislavery portion organizing the Wesleyan Church. Their first services were held in a cabin on the flats, near the present resi- dence of Samuel Patterson, with Rev. Mr. Street as Pastor. This church started with a member- ship numbering twenty-nine, which has since in- creased to fifty. In 1876, they built a modest building on the hill, at a cost of $800, where they now worship. In 1864, an M. E. Church was organized at Lewis Center, with a membership of twelve, which has since increased to ninety mem- bers. Their building, which cost at war prices $2,600, was dedicated November 4, 1866. In 1871, a parsonage was built, at a cost of $2,000. Since its organization, the church has maintained a Sunday school without a break, which now numbers about fifty members. A Catholic Church was organized here in 1864, and a frame building for worship put up. They are in a languishing condition, and have services each alternate Tues- day afternoon. A United Brethren Church was organized at Williamsville in 1877. This church
occupies the building erected some years ago by the M. E. Church, but, at present, is not a very vigorous organization.
Among the earliest traditions before church or- ganizations were effected, is found the name of Elder Drake, a Baptist preacher, who was one of the earliest settlers of Delaware City. He held services weekly at the house of Nathan Nettleton, an early settler -on Alum Creek. Another name is that of a Presbyterian preacher, Rev. Ahab Jinks. He held frequent but not regular services about the neighborhood until the organization of a church in Berlin gave his followers a regular place of worship. The earliest Methodist preacher was the Rev. Leroy Swampsted, a rigid disciplinarian, an energetic worker and a man of good executive ability. He stood high in the estimation of the church at large, and was, later, agent of the Book Concern in Cincinnati. The organization of the first Sunday school is attributed to James Ferson, the older brother of Samuel Ferson, of this town- ship. This, school was organized in 1821, and held its sessions in the cabin of Mr. Ferson for three years, when his departure for Michigan tem- porarily broke it up.
It is not surprising where so firm a stand was taken in regard to antislavery principles, that there should be felt an active interest in the wel- fare of escaped slaves. It was a fact well under- stood at an early day, that the Pattersons were prominently active in the service of the "under- ground railway." Much service, in a quiet way, was rendered to fugitive slaves ; but no pursuers ever came to this part of the township. A single exception to this rule, in the west part of the township, is related by Mr. Elsbre. A negro lad came to his cabin about Christmas, 1834, calling himself John Quincy Adams. He stayed with him until the following summer, when one day as they were at work on the pike, two negroes came up and recognized John Quincy. They proved to be run- away slaves from the same neighborhood as John. These facts excited in his mind a lively apprehen- sion, and, fearing that they would be pursued and he involved in the general capture, he left that night, not to be heard of again for some years. His fears were only too well founded. The pursuers were put upon the trail of the boys by a neigh- bor-Mark Coles-who had previously knowu their master, and, one bright September night, as Mr. Elsbre sat with his little family enjoying a social chat with a neighbor, the door of his cabin was rudely opened, and a burly six-footer strode
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