History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 104

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 818

USA > Ohio > Delaware County > History of Delaware County and Ohio > Part 104

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Comfort Penney came to this locality about 1812, and was one of the first to erect his cabin on the "Ridge." He was from Pennsylvania. Lanson Gooding came about the same time, and located near Penney, on the " Ridge." He was from the East, and in 1814 taught one of the first schools in the township. The building was a log cabin, and was situated on the farm of Ralph Smith. John Roberts, an early settler, came from the Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, and when John Butler, the Tory leader, together with Brant and his Mohawks, swept into that beautiful valley and began massacreing the settlers, Roberts fled to the fort, and when that was taken, he suc- ceeded in escaping to the Federal lines near Phila- delphia. After the close of the Revolution, he settled in Pennsylvania, whence he moved hither before the war of 1812, and settled on Yankee street. When a detachment of Harrison's army came through the western part of Genoa, on its way to Delaware via Berkshire, he joined it, and was under Harrison at the siege of Fort Meigs. After peace was declared, he returned to his home on the Big Walnut, where he continued to reside until his death. Duell, the first physician in the township, came at an early date. Dr. Skeels was also an early settler. William Hall came to Ohio in 1806, with the man to whom he had been apprenticed in Goshen, Conn., and settled with him at Worthington. He was born in Vermont, and at this time was sixteen years of age. He remained here until early in 1811, when he, in company with a friend, started for Connecti- cut, via Cleveland, on foot, arriving there in the early part of the summer. On their way through the woods, near Cleveland, they were one day con-

fronted by a huge panther. Both being unarmed, they each seized a club, and after a great deal of yelling and flourishing of their rude weapons, suc- ceeded in scaring him away. Soon tiring of the monotony of an Eastern life, he returned to Ohio in November of the same year. In 1812, he re- sponded to a call for volunteers to help locate and cut out the old military road, over which supplies were transported to Fort Meigs. Mr. Hall soon after was appointed a recruiting officer, and suc- ceeded in raising a company for the regular service, and was commissioned a First Lieutenant. His company was attached to the Twenty-seventh Regiment of infantry, the Colonel being Lewis Cass. He was with Harrison at Detroit, and in the invasion with Canada, and took part in the battle of the Thames. After this battle, which eventually ended the war in this direction, he was discharged, having served his country for three years. In 1815, he married" Polly Curtis, and settled on the Curtis farm, in this township, where he spent his life.

From 1816 to 1819, there came into the town- ship the families of Diadatus Keeler (who was a very enterprising man, and the first to introduce fine-wooled sheep, and the China and Berkshire breed of hogs), E. Washburn, Jacob Hartburn, Abraham Wells, Eleazar and George Copeland. Dr. Eleazar Copeland was a man who, upon his advent into the township, began to use all his energy and resources for the promotion of its best interests, and was connected with nearly all the pioneer industries. He was drowned in the waters of the Big Walnut, under the following circum- stances : He was part owner of a saw-mill situated on that stream, and, during a continuance of low water, there had accumulated a great many logs about the mill. A sudden and heavy rain having raised the water in the creek, the logs were floated off, and began going down stream in the current. His wife, noticing this fact, suggested that her husband, who was an excellent swimmer, should enter the water and try and save them. The doctor Icaped in for the purpose of gaining the other side, but when about in the middle, he was seized with cramps, and after a vain effort to reach the bank, sank under the turbulent waters, and was drowned. This occurred on Wednesday, and although people gathered from every direction to search for his body, it was not found until the fol- lowing Sunday, and then under circumstances which were very peculiar. It was understood throughout the section that a thorough search was

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

to be made on that day, and a great crowd had gathered for that purpose. John Roberts and his brother-in-law, Mr. Smith, had left the main party. who were exploring near where he went under, and began to search farther down stream, on the west bank. Having sat down nearly oppo- site the mouth of Spruce Run to take a rest, John Roberts' attention was attracted by the hum of flies, and watching them closely, he saw them go in and out of a small hole which had been made by one of the searching party in a sand-bar. He went down to the spot, and, after scraping away the sand, he discovered the body, face down- ward, completely covered with sand and drift- wood.

Joseph Linnabauf, an industrious and energetic farmer, came to Genoa Township a few years pre- vious to the Copelands. They emigrated from Luzerne County, Peon., and settled in the south central portion of this township. Dusenbury and Roswell Cooke came somewhat later than the Copelands. The latter was the first to introduce thorough-bred cattle into this township. There is an old tradition which has been handed down through the early settlers, that somewhere along the course of the little creek called Spruce Run, opposite the mouth of which Dr. Copeland's body was found, there is a lead mine. The pioneers relate that often a body of Indians would come down to this locality, and, after hunting a few days, for the purpose of removing any suspicion that might he aroused, they would go up this creek, and, after remaining for some time, would pass north, loaded with lead, which was almost pure. A number of attempts have been made since to discover the mine, but without success.

The Rev. E. Washburn came with his wife to Genoa in the winter of 1816-17, when society and all else in this newly settled country was com- paratively in a primitive state. Money was almost unobtainable, and that little in circulation was, in many instances, unstable and depreciated. Neces- sities were more difficult to secure than luxuries are now. Under such circumstances, and amidst these trying conditions, it would appear that a field of great usefulness was open to the advent of a man like Mr. Washburn. He was a universally esteemed and loved father in the Presbyterian ministry, an ordained and appointed missionary of the Cross, but was solely dependent for support upon his labor and the voluntary contributions of the people among whom he devoted his untiring energies. At the time of his coming, there re-

sided on Yankee street only the families of Jonas Carter, John Curtis, William Hall, William Cox, Marcus Curtis, Johnson Pelton and Sylvester Hough. Previous to Mr. Washburn's arrival, there had been but one sermon preached by a Pres- byterian clergyman within the present limits of the township, and not one had been preached upon the Sabbath day. He immediately commenced preaching throughout the regions which are now embraced in the townships of Blendon, in Frank- lin County, Genoa, Berkshire and Trenton, in Delaware County, and continued so to preach until the year 1829 or 1830: He often spoke of the many acts of kindness and fraternal regard he and his family received from the hands of the early settlers and pioneers of the forest. Just previous to his coming, there had been organized by the Rev. Mr. Hughes, then of Delaware, a Presbyterian Church in Berkshire, the members of which were scattered over Genoa and adjoining. townships, but, on looking for the records, none were found; so that, in 1818, the church was again formally organized, and Samuel Thompson, Julius White and John Brown were chosen, and ordained as its Ruling Elders. Mrs. Rachel Cur- tis, Mrs. Katy Curtis, Ralph Smith, William Hall and Alexander Smith were members of the Berkshire Church, but resided in the vicinity. In 1830, the Presbytery set off the members who resided in the vicinity, and constituted them into a separate church, known as the " Presbyterian Church and congregation of Genoa." The mem- bers who were thus set off were sixteen in number, and, as near as can possibly be ascertained, were Marcus Curtis and Katy (his wife), Ralph Smith, Rachel Curtis, William Hall, Alexander Smith, Nancy Allen, Freeman Chester, Simeon Chester. and Clarissa (his wife), Diadatus Keeler, Eleazar Copeland, Obediah Seebring and Abigail (his wife), Mary Foote and Augustus Curtis. Just previous to this time, the Rev. Mr. Washburn was living upon a tract of land containing a few acres, which he had purchased and improved, sit- uated on the farm then owned by William Hall, nearly opposite the road leading to the mill, a little north of Mr. Roberts' residence on Yankee strect. He continued to supply his neighborhood with preaching until some two years after he re- moved his residence to Blendon.

On the 19th of February, 1831, the session of the Genoa Church met for the first time, the Rev. Ahab Jinks beimg Moderator, and Diadatus Keeler and Eleazar Copeland Elders. These men

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

were appointed by the Presbytery, and as there is no mention made on the records of their ordination, it is presumed they were Elders in the Leburn, or Blendon Church, at the time of their transfer to this organization. The Rev. Ahab Jinks contin- ued to minister to the congregation until 1836, when he was succeeded by Rev. Calvin Ransom. During this year, fourteen members who resided in Trenton Township and its immediate vicinity, were set off and organized as the First Presby- terian Church of Trenton. In 1837, Mr. Jinks was again the stated supply, and so continued until 1841. During the year 1840, a protracted meet- ing was held, in which the Rev. Mr. Cable assisted the minister in charge. In 1842, the Rev. John McCutchen was their Pastor, and continued to minister to the congregation one year. In 1844, the Rev. R. De Forrest came and preached as an evangelist for the space of about eight weeks. In the succeeding year, 1845, the Rev. Mr. Avery officiated, and continued his ministrations one, or perhaps, nearly two, years. From the year 1845 to the year 1850, the congregation enjoyed the labors of the Rev. Mr. Whipple, Rev. Milton Starr and Rev. M. Brown. In 1850, the Rev. Warren Nichols occupied the pulpit and remained until about the close of the year 1852. In the summer of 1853, the Rev. David Coyner, then a licentiate of Franklin Presbytery, was employed, and continued his labors for two years and part of a third. From the fall of the year 1855 until the summer of 1856, the pulpit was vacant. At that time, the Rev. Homer McVey, then a student of Lane Seminary, during his vacation preached for the charge occasionally. August 1, 1856, the Rev. Warren Jenkins-from whose dis- course, delivered January 1, 1860, we have gath- ered the information in relation to the church, and other items of 'interest-entered upon his labors, and, at the time this sermon was delivered, had supplied this congregation and that of Trenton alternately. Following him, and for the space of three years and five months thereafter, the Rev. Mr. Coyner had charge, since which time there has been but little preaching, and, for a number of years, they have had no regular Pastor. In the summer, however, they have a Sunday school. When the church was first organized, it held meetings in the schoolhouse then standing in the rear of the present residence of Augustus Curtis. In the year 1837-38, the present house of worship was erected, and the same was dedicated the 8th of December, 1838.

The Methodist Episcopal Church existed as an organization as early as 1840, worshiping in schoolhouses and cabins of the settlers. It was not until 1849, they commenced to build at Max- well Corners a frame church at a cost of $800. The church was dedicated by an English minister named Taylor. The ministers who have held this charge are as follows : George G. West, Havens Parker, William Porter, Havens Parker, Samuel C. Riker, Martindale, Brown, Dr. Gurley, Hooper, Ellis, Adair, Elliott. This denomination existed and worshiped in this church until about 1865. At that time, the ministers in charge, Revs. Adair and Elliott, declined preaching longer on account of political differences, and brought the matter before the Quarterly Conference. The conference decided the church to be a non-organized band, and appointed a committee, consisting of John Milicent, Bijah Mann and Elijah Adams, to sell the church edifice. This committee immediately advertised the church for sale, and H. Bennett bid it off for $336 for the Christian Union denomination, which had been formed out of the dissolution of the Methodist Episcopal society. The church was then rededicated, about 1866, by the Rev. Green, from Columbus, who have organ- ized it. The ministers that have officiated since its last organization are as follows : Green, Gates, Stephenson, Durant, Allen, Mann and Flax. The Rev. Mr. Stephenson is now in charge, and holds meetings every two weeks.

It is not uncommon, at this day, to hear the rising generation wondering how it came that these old pioneers and their immediate descendants possessed such " good common sense." Nature was the inimitable book from which they gained the inspiration that was to make the " wilderness bloom and blossom as the rose," and if perchance they were able to attend, in the dead of winter, the little log schoolhouse on Ralph Smith's farm, where in 1814 Lanson Gooding taught the rudi- ments of learning, they realized that they were enjoying a boon too sacred to be idly thrown away. Lanson Gooding has long since disappeared, and the log schoolhouse, too, is gone. Near its site stands a substantial frame school building that is a credit to the township. A large brick school- house is situated near the covered bridge, at the old Williams' Ford, and the Curtises, Williamses, Halls, and the sons and daughters of other well- known pioneers, who used to tramp through the snow for the purpose of attending the little log structure near the same spot, if alive, could

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scarcely be made to realize the great changes and improvements that have been made. Perhaps the accompanying statistics will be of interest to some :

Balance on hand, Sept. 1, 1878, $932.72. Local tax, for school and schoolhouse purposes, $1,230.03; total, $2,667.80. Amount paid teachers, primary, $1,173; amount paid for site and buildings, $480; amount paid for fuel and other contingent expenses, $150; total amount of expenditures, $1,803.

Balance on hand, September 1, 1879, $864.80. Number of districts or subdistricts, 9; number of schoolhouses erected during the year, 1; cost of schoolhouses erected during the year, $498. Number of schoolhouses, 9; number of rooms, 9. Average number of weeks in session, 24. Total value of school property, $4,500. Number of teachers necessary to supply schools, 9 ; number of different teachers employed, gents, 4; ladies, 5. Average wages per month, gents, $30 ; ladies, $22. Number of teachers who taught the entire year, ladies, 2. Rate of local school tax for 1878- 79, 2 mills ; rate of local school tax for 1879-80, 1.9 mills. Number of different pupils enrolled within the year, boys, 180 ; girls, 125. Average monthly enrollment, boys, 170; girls, 125. Aver- age daily attendance, boys, 160; girls, 120. Number enrolled between ages of sixteen and twenty-one, boys, 45 ; girls, 46.

Jeremiah Curtis built the first mills in the town- ship, and the first still-house, which were situated on the Big Walnut, on the farm now owned by Stephen Ulry. Curtis only ran the mill a year or two, when he sold out to Elisha Newell, who ran it about a year when, the dam and buildings bo- coming undermined and unsafe, he sold out to Hezekiah Roberts. Roberts built a race across his farm, erected a three-story, hewn-log grist-mill, and putting in the running gear of the old mill began to do business. This was in 1816, and at that early date they had no buhr-stones but had to work with what were know as " nigger heads." This mill ran until 1839, when it was burned down, owned at the time by a man named Duncan. It was rebuilt and soon after sold to R. C. Barnum, who sold out to Lewis Mahany. Under the latter's ownership, steam was introduced and it ran for a number of years, when business having become dull, the mill was sold to Mathias Roberts, who took the steam gearing out and took it to Illinois and put it in a new mill in that State. At present, there is nothing left of the mill excepting the frame-work. The dam has long since disappeared having been carried away during a heavy freshet.

About 1826 or 1827, Squire Hough and Dr. Copeland put up a grist and saw mill down where Yankee street crosses the Big Walnut. The grist- mill had but one run, which was made of flint ridge-stone. After they had run the mills a short time, they were joined by a man named I. S. Car- penter, and through his influence and his co-opera- tion, they built a brick dry-house and put machin- ery in the mill for breaking hemp, which at that time was raised upon nearly all the farms in this vicinity and formed the principal staple. McLeod, who came to this locality from Pennsylvania at rather an early date, put up a saw-mill about 1838 on Big Walnut Creek, just east of where Mr. H. Bennett now lives. The dam was made from logs and stood for many years.

There are only two bridges in the township, one near Maxwell Corners and the other at Will- iams' Ford. The former' was built about twelve years ago. The latter was built by the Sherman brothers. Both are wooden structures, and cov- ered. The State road connecting Columbus and Galena was surveyed by Barack Weeks about 1821 or 1822. There was an old State road connect- ing Worthington and Berkshire, which ran through the western part of the township. A detachment of Harrison's army is said to have traveled over this road from .Worthington on their way North. It has not been used for some fifty years. The Columbus & Mount Vernon Railroad follows the ridge through the township, running southwest and northeast. There is simply a flag station at what was formerly the Genoa Cross-roads, and the people are compelled to go to Galena if they desire to avail themselves of the advantage of railroad traveling.

Maxwell Corners, formerly known as Maxwell Post Office, is the nearest approach to a town in the township. It at present consists of one store, a church, and a few frame houses, and is situated on Yankee street, in the southern part of the township. A survey was once made, and a town laid out, the name of which was to be Inglesbe, but the plat was never recorded. After the post office at the Genoa Cross-roads had become defunct through the neglect of Dr. Badger, who moved away without naming a successor, the office was placed at Maxwell. It existed here for a short time, when on one occasion the mail carrier having got drunk, the Postmaster, Thomas Kline, resigned, and this office also perished, although at present there is an effort being made for its restitution. The first post office in the township was at the residence of Marcus Curtis, and he was the first Postmaster.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.

H. G. ANDREWS, Delaware, is a native of Franklin Co., this State, where he was born in July, 1813. His parents were Noah and Ruth (Griswold) Andrews; his father was a native of Connecticut, and his mother of Massachusetts; Mr. Andrews came .from his native county to this place in 1831, when he entered a store as clerk, and in about two years he engaged in the mercantile business for himself; this he continued for about twenty years, engaging also in the manufacture of paper at Stratford, an account of which business will be found in another part of this work ; during this time, Mr. Andrews purchased a farm which he has retained and operated ; it has been his fort- une to fill several positions of prominence, and his wholesome influence has been felt in the com- munity in which he has moved, serving to mold in no small degree the sentiments of those who were brought in contact with him; Mr. An- drews was for a number of years a director of the S. & D. R. R. In 1835, he was married at Zanes- ville, Ohio, to Miss Emily Downer, and seven children have been born to them, four now living. Hiram R., a son, served in the late war for three years as a member of the 18th U. S. Regulars.

FREDERICK AVERY (deceased). One by one the old settlers of Delaware Co. are pass- ing away beyond the shores of the dark river, and in a few more short years there will be none of them left to tell of the hardships and trials of their early settlement in this now beauti- ful region. Frederick Avery was born in Groton, Conn., in 1796; his father died when our subject was very young ; Mr. Avery clerked in a store for a, number of years. About 1816, he married Lydia Ann Chamberlin, who was born in Berkshire Co., Mass., Feb. 22, 1799 ; in 1818, they, in com- pany with Justice Chamberlain and family, and Nathan Chester and family, started for Ohio in wagons, and after being on the road thirty-six

days, arrived in Delaware Co. and located on the Radnor road ; here Mr. Avery and family remained until 1822, when they moved to the present home- stead of Mr. Avery ; this farm then had but few improvements, no improved farm between them and Scioto. Mr. Avery went to work with a will, and in a few years, he owned a good improved farm; he was Judge of the court for several years, filling that office with honor and credit; he was every way a most estimable man. He died June 13, 1878, nearly 81 years of age, leaving a wife and four children to mourn the loss of a kind and loving husband and father.

GEORGE H. AIGIN, engineer fire department, Delaware. Among the old settlers of Delaware may be mentioned the Aigin family, who came here in 1837; the subject of this sketch was born in Monroe Co., N. Y., in 1829, and is the son of James Aigin, who was born in Baltimore in 1801, and went to Buffalo, N. Y., to learn his trade as a tailor, at 16 years of age, at which he worked in different parts of the country; he was in Bos- ton when the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill Monument was laid, and was married in 1828 in New York, to Miss Martha Angier, of Andover, Mass. In 1837, with family, he moved to Delaware and is recognized as one of its honored citizens ; he keeps a news stand, which business he has been iu for the last twenty-one years; Mr. Aigin was one of the committee that organized the Ohio Wesleyan University; had one son in the late civil war, Stephen P., enlisted in Co. C, 4th O. V. I., who was lost about 1863, supposed to have been drowned; George H. remained a resident of Delaware until 1847, when he went to Alabama, and was there engaged in helping build the Selma, Rome & Dalton Railroad, of which he was loco- motive engineer for a number of years; Mr. Aigin was taken sick with yellow fever, and was danger- ously ill with that dreaded disease some five days,

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in 1859; he then returned to Delaware, and has since worked in the flax-mills, and helped to set up the engine in that mill; he also had one-third interest in the city foundry, which business he carried on about one year; Mr. Aigin was for one year engaged in the grocery business. In 1870, on the organization of the paid fire department, he was made engineer of the steamer, which position he has filled ever since with entire satisfaction to all; he is now the oldest in the service of the de- partment; Mr. Aigin has attended church in the present engine-house, which was originally erected for church purposes ; he was for a short time en- - gaged in operating a grist-mill in Concord Town- ship, where he was elected Township Clerk, and filled that office with satisfaction.

A. G. BYERS, agent Columbus & Toledo Rail- road, Delaware, was born in York Co., Penn., in 1840, and in 1849 came to Delaware, where he has been a resident ever since; in 1857, he en- tered the Ohio Wesleyan University, and was a student in that institution for some two years ; in 1861, he entered a dry-goods store as a clerk, and in 1865 became a partner in the dry-goods busi- ness as a member of the firm of Mendenhall & Co .; in 1876, Mr. Byers received the appointment as station agent in Delaware for the Columbus & Toledo Railroad, which position he has filled with satisfaction to the company and the traveling pub- lic; he also holds the position of passenger and emigrant agent for the old reliable Pan Handle Railroad. Mr. Byers' father, George Byers, was a soldier in the late war, enlisting in the 48th O. V. I., in which regiment he also had two sons, George L. and Lee W .; the father was taken sick at Shiloh and removed to the hospital at Fort Pick- ering, Memphis, Tenn., where he died; one of the sons, Lee W., was taken prisoner up Red River and remained such some six months, when he joined his regiment; both served full time and were honorably discharged.

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History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 104

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 818

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 818