History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 73

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 73

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

church building very early, and is the resting- place of many of the pioneers of Liberty Town- ship. It is one of the oldest public burying grounds in the county.

Among the pioneer preachers of this settlement

were the Methodist circuit-riders. Rev. Mr. Beach was one of the first of these itinerant min- isters, and was here before there was a regular society formed in the township. Rev. Mr. Bacon was a local preacher of the M. E. Church, and used to hold meetings at Carpenter's house before the era of organized church societies. He married Ann Case and wasa permanentresident of the neigh- borhood. The first Methodist society formed in Liberty Township was organized by Rev. Mr. Emery, at the house of Jarvis Buell, as early, per- haps, as 1825. The society built its first church about 1840, just south of Powell, and across the road from where the present building stands. It was a log structure, very plainly furnished, and christened Emery Chapel, in honor of Rev. Mr. Em- ery, who organized the first society. In 1859, Em- ery Chapel wasrebuilt. The new edifice was located on the opposite side of the road, and is a neat and tasty frame building still in use. It was erected under the pastorate of the Rev. Levi Cunningham. The church is flourishing, the membership is large, with an interesting Sunday school under the superintendence of A. G. Hall, which is well at- tended and maintained during the year. These two buildings are the only church edifices in the township.

Another of the landmarks of the township was the pioneer tavern of David Thomas, which stood on the west bank of the Olentangy, on the trail running from Sandusky to Franklinton, and was the general stopping-place for travelers between those towns. This tavern was kept by Mr. Thomas from 1811 until his death in 1826, and the old house, it is said, is still standing. Besides the mills, to which we have already alluded, other pioneer industries comprised the blacksmith-shops along the river trail, and the tanyard over on Mid- dlebury street, all of which are numbered among the things that were.

The first effort at merchandising was made by an Englishman, George Dean, who opened a store on Goodrich's farm about 1829-30. After con- ducting the business for a few years, he sold out to Edmund Goodrich and Henry Chapman. They sold goods in partnership for two or three years longer, when the store was discontinued. This ended the mercantile business in this section of the

427

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

township. The next move was made by Joseph M. Cellar, who opened a little store at Liberty Church. A post office was established at the same place about 1848-49, called Union, and for a time it was quite a lively place, consisting of a store, post office, church, schoolhouse, and-a cemetery. But after a few years, both store and post office were discontinued, thus leaving the township with- out these useful additions to civilization, until a little store was opened at " Hall Corners," or " Middlebury," by Thomas R. Hall. This was a small affair, and the date of its establishment is not remembered, but it was a number of years ago. This store at " the corners " led to an application for a post office, which, through the influence of Judge Powell, of Delaware, was obtained, and named for him in compliment for his exertions in procuring it. Joshua Pennell was appointed Post- master. With the building of the Columbus & Toledo Railroad, Powell Post Office made some pretensions toward becoming a town. It was sur- veyed and laid out as a village in February, and the plat recorded March 29, 1876, for A. G. Hall, the owner of the land upon which it is located. Joshua Pennell was the first merchant, except Hall, as well as the first Postmaster, and opened a store long before the place was laid out. The first house in the place was built by Mr. Hall. Since the laying-out of the village, it has contained as many as three stores at one time, but recently they have been consolidated, and the mercantile business proper is controlled by one house-that of C. W. Mason. In addition to his establishment, there are two drug stores, by Dr. Ingersoll and John Kidwell respectively ; two wagon and black- smith shops, by William Gardner and William Ban- inger ; one boot and shoe shop, by David Shaw. Quite a handsome little schoolhouse adorns the town. There is no church within the corporate limits, but Emery Chapel stands just outside of the village, and a little beyond the church is the saw- mill of Mr. Hall, which does a large business in its way. A few years ago a lodge of Odd Fellows was organized in the village, and is to-day one of the most flourishing lodges in the county. A half- dozen or so members of the order, who were some- what isolated and distant from lodges, conceived the idea of having a lodge of their own, bought a lot and put up a substantial building thereon; the lower story was made into a storeroom, and the upper into a hall. Upon the completion of the building, they applied for and received a charter as Powell Lodge, No. 465, I. O. O. F., with the fol-

lowing charter members : B. B. Nafzger, J. T. Gardner, Ralph Case, William P. Fuller, M. S. Case, J. N. Kidwell, M. G. Staggers, Arthur Dougherty, G. N. Warner, A. S. Goodrich and S. P. Andrews. It was instituted September 29, 1870, by Hiram J. Beebe, G. M., and W. C. Earl, Grand Secre- tary. The first officers were A. S. Goodrich, N. G .; J. T. Gardner, V. G .; M. S Case, R. S .; B. B. Nafzger, P. S .; William P. Fuller, Treasurer. The Trustees of the building are Ralph Case, M. G. Staggers and S. P. Andrews. The present officers are Ralph Case, N. G .; T. W. Case, V. G .; Jacob Stietz, R. S., and M. S. Case, P. S., with forty- seven members at last report. As remarked, the lodge owns the building, which cost $1,600 ; has a fund at interest of $2,000, and promptly pays every demand made upon it by the Grand Lodge, or by others. The village cemetery is a well-chosen spot, and is kept with good taste. It was laid out long before the village, and contains the moldering remains of many of the early settlers in this part of the township. The village of Powell, for a new place, and a railroad village, too, contains some very handsome residences. The houses are mostly well built, and upon the whole are much above the standard of towns of its size.

The village of Hyattsville was laid out Febru- ary 6, 1876, by Henry A. Hyatt. Ed Nalz opened the first store. Henry Cook bought him out, when Nalz opened a store in the depot build- ing. A post office was established in 1877, witlı H. A. Hyatt as Postmaster. Hyatt originally kept a few goods, but makes no pretensions in mercantile business at present. He keeps a grain warehouse and does considerable shipping. The business may be thus summarized: In addition to the stores of Cook and Nalz, there is a black- smith-shop by B. Poole, cooper-shop by English, shoe-shop by James Wallace, saw-mill by Henry Oller. One of the best schoolhouses in the town- ship is located here. There is one saloon, which adds little to the morals of the place.

Both Hyattsville and Powell are the result of the building of the Columbus & Toledo Railroad through the township. There was a store and post office at Powell previous to the building of the road ; but for the road, however, it doubtless would never have been anything more than merely "Powell Post Office," as it had been known for years before. Hyattsville, it is quite evi- dent, owes its existence to the road. But it was not in the birth of these thriving little villages that the great benefit to the township of this road

428

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

lay; it was in bringing the best markets in the country into the midst of the people. With two shipping stations in the limits of the township, the people are well supplied with facilities for

getting rid of their surplus produce and stock. Then, the road itself is a valuable one, and one that any section should be proud of. It is one of the best-ballasted and best-equipped roads in the State.

CHAPTER XV.

BERKSHIRE TOWNSHIP-INCIDENTS OF EARLY SETTLEMENT-INDIAN ALARMS-CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS.

" Where nothing dwelt but beasts of prey, Or men as fierce and wild as they, He hids the oppressed and poor repair, And builds them towns and cities there." -Old Hymn.

T THE world is now taking time to leek back, and the story of the pioneer is becoming one of absorbing interest. Ohio was for so long a time considered "out West," that its people, scarcely yet out of the woods, took little interest in these traditions relating to a condition of society but little removed from their own. But

" While History's muse the memorial was keeping Of all that the dark hand of Destiny weaves,"

the onward rush of civilization has pressed back the Western frontier, making the once Northwest- ern Territory the central link in the brilliant chain of States. This awakening to the true value of the pioneer history of this country, comes in many respects too late. The children of the pioneer settlements have been gathered to their fathers within the past decade, and the old landmarks, one by one, have decayed and passed away with those who placed them. The men who opened up the forest of Berkshire to the illuminating rays of civ- ilization, though possessed of an unusual degree of culture for that day, were practical men. They came to better their material prospects, and, while they labored to bring about them those influences which would mold the new community into the highest form of social life, they did not undertake to demonstrate a theory in social philosophy. Their laber has not been in vain. To the thoughtful observer, the traces of their earnest watchfulness is everywhere apparent. In but few places elsewhere in the county did the schoolhouse and the church take such early and deep root as in Berkshire, and the careers of her sons and daughters at home and abroad, could they be spread before us, would fur- nish ample proof of the wisdom and pious fidelity

of the early founders. But they are now gone. " O'er a' the ills o' life victorious," crowned with the " ornament of a meek and quiet spirit," the pioneer has been laid to rest.

" No ominous hour Knooks at his door with tidings of mishap. Far off is he, above desire and fear ; No more subjected to the change and chance Of the unsteady planets."

But we. who remain, upon whose untutored shoulders the burden of responsibility rests with so poor a grace, look in vain to the story of the early days for the secret of their success. They lived wiser than they knew, and, glad to think that the rising generation would be wiser than they, died and made no sign. The historian finds him- self not more favered than the socialist. The men who faced the difficulties of frentier life in the opening decades of the nineteenth century, found no time to trace their record, and the following pages are presented more as the result of a fortu- nate groping in the dark than as an historical array of facts.

Berkshire was formed of United States Military land, and is five miles square. It is bounded on the north by Kingston, on the east by Trenton, on the south by Genea, on the west by Berlin, and was known in the United States Military Survey as Township 4, Range 17. The first organization of Berkshire as a separate township was in 1806. Previous to this time, it was a part of Sharon Township, in Franklin County, but on petition it was set off by itself and consisted of certain sec- tions of townships which will be better understood if we use the names subsequently acquired. As originally erected, it included the fourth section of Brown, the third section of Kingston, the east half of Berlin and Orange Townships and the west half of Genoa, and the present Berkshire Township. June 8, 1813, the west half of Genoa

429

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

was set off to the township of Harlem, which then included the whole of Genoa. September 3,

1816, the east half of Orange Township was set off to form that township, and on the 8th of Jan- uary, 1820, the east half of Berlin was set off to form that township. These subtractions left Berk- shire in the form of an L, consisting of Sections 2 and 3 of the present Berkshire Township, with Section 3 of Kingston and 4 of Brown. When Delaware County was set off from Franklin, the eastern part of this county was set off, at the first session of the Commissioners' Court, into a separate township, with its boundaries as follows: "Begin- ning at the northeast corner of Section No. 2 of Town- ship 5 (Kingston), Range 17, of the United States Military Survey; thence south with said line to the south line of county; thence with the south line of county to the east line of said county ; thence north with said county line to the Indian bound- ary line; thence westerly with said boundary line to the east boundary of Marlborough Township; thence south with said boundary lineto the south- east corner of said township; thence east to the place of beginning." By taking a map of the county and tracing the lines, it will be observed that the present townships of Harlem, Trenton and Porter, with the east half of the townships of Kingston, Berkshire and Genoa, were included in this town- ship, besides the townships of Bennington, Har- mony, Peru and Lincoln, now in Morrow County. This geographical " what-not" was called Sunbury, and has succeeded in handing down its title to the thriving village of that name, in Berkshire Town- ship. By the erection of successive townships its

territory was gradually diminished, until in 1821 it only included the east half of Berkshire and Trenton Townships. When Berkshire's loss

of the sections in Kingston and Brown was com- pensated by the addition of Sections 1 and 4 from Sunbury Township, the absence of the record ren- ders doubtful, but probably about the time of the erection of Trenton into a separate township. The surface is a fine, rolling country, lying high and in admirable shape for tilling, and, with the ex- ception of a small prairie, a little northeast of Berkshire Corners, was originally covered with a dense forest. This prairie was a low piece of ground, ahout half a mile long, of irregular `shape, reaching upward of a half-mile in the widest part. It was a noted deer lick in the early time

and the resort of immense flocks of pigeons. Va- rious opinions were entertained by the early set- tlers as to the origin of the spot, the preponder-

ance being in favor of the theory that at a very early period the place was submerged by water held there by a beaver dam, or natural obstruction of fallen timber, and thus the natural growth of the forest prevented. The first settlers found the timber skirting the lower part of this spot made impassable by the number of fallen trees. There was a small spring here which still exists, and in the wet season the accumulated waters, obstructed by the fallen timber, backed up so that frequently they nearly found an outlet over the river banks into the Little Walnut, which flows across this plat. This stream, coming from the north, takes a south- west course at this point, but, changing its direc- tion below the Sunbury road, it flows to the south- east, and joins the Big Walnut just below Galena. The latter river intersects the township just east of Sunbury Village, and, taking a southwesterly course, passes Galena and reaches the Scioto River in the southern part of Franklin County. This river was known by the early settlers near it, as Gehenna, but without any obvious reason, and lower down is still known by the local name of Big Belly. These streams afford Berkshire am- ple drainage, and at an early day afforded by canoes a means of communication with the older settle- ments. The high divide between these two streams constitutes nearly one-half of the township, and was formerly covered almost exclusively with oak. This timber is evidently of a second growth, giv-

ing ground for the opinion that at an early period the timber along this elevation was entirely pros- trated by a devastating tornado. Across the Lit- tle Walnut, on the rise of ground beyond, is found the same quality of oak of immense size, evidently a part of the original forest growth. Here is

found also a generous variety of timber, including

maple, hickory, walnut, butternut, elm, etc. Oc- casional elm swamps were found on the west side and in the northern part, but they dried up by a natural process when freed from timber and exposed to the influence of the sun. The general character of the soil is that of a light yellow clay,

admirably adapted to grass and corn. The prairie

and the elm swamps are the exceptions to the gen-

eral rule of clay. In these is found a rich, black soil, highly prized by the farming community. Grain raising and feeding stock for market receive the principal attention of the farmers. Four

places have at different times aspired to metropoli-

tan honors in the township: Berkshire, in the northwest ; Rome, near the middle; Galena, in the southern, and Sunbury, in the eastern middle part.

430

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

The two latter are thriving villages about the same size.

The pioneer of Berkshire was Col. Moses Byxbe, of Lenox, Berkshire County, Mass. He was a man of wealth and standing in his native town: a man of shrewd business ability and of great decision of character. He united the business of " keeping hotel " with that of storekeeper, and in this way had come into possession of a large num- ber of soldiers' land warrants, and located them in Section 2 of what is now Berkshire, and in Sec- tion 1 of the present township of Berlin, 8,000 acres in all. He afterward bought large tracts of land in Brown and Genoa, and was the largest land- holder ever in the county. In June, 1804, he fitted out a four-horse team, in charge of Orlando Barker, a three-horse team, with Witter Stewart as driver, and a single-horse wagon, driven by Solomon Smith, and, loading with goods from his store and his household effects, started them for the West. Mr. Byxbe led the way with his family in a two-horse carriage, in that day an indispu- table evidence of his wealth. He persuaded Azariah Root, a surveyor and resident of Pittsfield, Mass., to accompany him, promising to give him employ- ment to pay for his land. He also brought his nephew, Edward Potter, then a boy of thirteen years of age, to act as clerk in the store he proposed to start. Taking up their line of march, the little colony started on their journey in the track of the Scioto colony, which had gone out the year before. Their course was to Fishkill, thence across the river through Newburgh to Easton, Harrisburg, Carlisle, and Shippenburg. Here the little caravan held council as to the rest of their course, whether to go to Chambersburg or to cross the Three Brothers to Strawsburg and thence on to Bedford. The latter , course was decided upon, Root taking the lead some distance in advance on the road to- ward Somerset. When near Bedford, Byxbe con- cluded to go to the left of the usual route, and struck the river at Redstone, now Brownsville. Here he found a Mr. Hutchinson and family bound for Cincinnati, and stayed five days. Deciding to take the river, a flat-boat was built capable of car- rying fourteen horses, with wagons, baggage, and the united families. Thus provided, they started down the river to Pittsburgh. Here Byxbe made con- siderable purchases of iron goods, and, to lighten the boat, which found it difficult to navigate the river in its shallow state of water, sent the horses across the " pan-handle " to Wheeling. On arriv- ing at Wheeling, learning that he was as near

Worthington there as he would be at the mouth of the Scioto, he prepared to start overland to his destination from that point. He unloaded only a part of bis goods and arranged that Hutchinson should land the balance at Portsmouth. From Wheeling, Mr. Byxbe came to Zanesville, thence to Lancaster, Franklinton, and Wortbington, ar- riving at the last-mentioned place in the latter part of August. They overtook Root and his family at Franklinton, where they had been wait- ing some two or three days. At Worthington they found the colony in a woful condition. The season had been extraordinarily wet, and there was " water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink." The freshets had made the river unfit to use; and the colonists had dug holes a few feet in the ground and used the surface water as it filtered in. The consequence was that the whole com- munity were sick, shaking with the ague. Their crops had largely failed, and many had nothing but green corn to eat. Here Mr. Byxbe stayed near- ly three months and built a two-story frame house, He sent men in canoes down the river to Chilli- cothe for flour and bacon, and bought a steer. This was killed, and, it is said, was eaten up be- fore the meat lost its natural heat. While here he went to his land in Berkshire, and, choosing a building site on the banks of the Little Walnut, in the prairie, built cabins for his home, and stables. He also built a cabin for Mr. Root about a half- mile south of where the "Corners " now are, on the Berkshire road. Meanwhile he had got his effects from Portsmouth and sold all his store goods to Nathaniel Little, before opening the packages. Early in November, the first load of household goods were sent forward to Berkshire from Worth- ington. It took a whole day to go and another to return, although the road had been chopped out by Col. Byxbe's direction after reaching Worth- ington. Load succeeded load until both families were established in their new homes. After mak- ing the cabins comfortable, Mr. Byxbe began to lay plans for settling up his purchase. Berkshire street was surveyed out through his land, and farms laid out abutting on it, the surveying being done by Mr. Root. Early in January, 1805, Mr. Curtis, a shoemaker, came to the settlement, fol- lowed by John Kilbourn, Ralph Slack, Elem Vining, Sr., a Mr. Harper, and Adonijah Rice. These came in singly, in close succession, during the winter. Close after these came some negroes, Sarah Brandy and Polly Noko, who went to Ber- lin afterward. Polly Noko's husband was detained

431

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

at Chillicothe, and sent fourteen cows by a negro boy, Jack, to the Salt Reservation, in the present township of Brown, where he was to cut browse for them, but the boy, becoming infatuated with a girl in the settlement, let them go in the woods, and went to work for Col. Byxbe. In the mean- time, Maj. Thomas Brown, who had gone to Detroit looking for land to locate upon, came back by way of the Byxbe settlement. He was per- suaded to cast in his lot with this community, and remained with them until June. Meanwhile the boy Jack, after asking Col. Byxbe to marry him to the girl of his heart (who explained his legal inability to accommodate him), applied to Maj. Brown, who possessed the title of Squire as well. Here the difficulty was not less insurmountable, as he had no jurisdiction. How the poor fellow made out is not known, but the cows starved to death for lack of attention.

In June of 1805, by Mr. Byxbe's directions, Mr. Root surveyed a road out to the present site of Granville, and as soon as this was completed, the Byxbe family, in their carriage, accompanied with a wagon in which rode Potter, Brown, and another man who furnished one of the two horses, started for Lenox, Mass .; Brown for his family, and Byxbe for more settlers. The whole male portion of the settlement escorted them, cutting out the road as far as surveyed, taking three days to accomplish the distance. Each night they built substantial camps of elm bark, which they left standing for those who might pass over the road subsequently. On their journey out they met the colony which settled at Granville, within two days' travel of their destination. In the following year, Maj. Brown returned with his family, accompanied by David Prince and John Patter- son with their families, Col. Byxbe remaining. behind to spread the news of his new-found El Dorado and to sell it. Joseph Prince followed early the next spring. On arriving at the frontier, Maj. Brown found a wagon-track leading toward his destination, the first track to Berkshire over that route. It was subsequently found to be the track of Nathaniel Hall, who afterward built the mill on Alum Creek. About this time came the family of James Gregory-a family of high social position and mental attainments. The names of Solomon Jones, a Mr. Helt, and George Fisher also appear, and, further south, those of John B. Grist, Joseph Patrick, David Armstrong, Samuel and David Landon, and Gideon and William Oos- terhaus. In 1806, steps were undertaken by

Maj. Brown to have the township organized, and it was set off with the name of Berkshire. It was not long before Mr. Byxbe returned and occupied a double log-cabin, which he had built on the "street " just before he went East.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 73

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