History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 77

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

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The next church organization, in point of time, was the Protestant Episcopal. The first sermon was preached in Maj. Brown's house, at Berkshire

.Corners, in 1818, by Bishop Chase, the first Bishop of the diocese. On Easter Monday, at the house of David Prince, March 23, 1818, those of Episcopalian belief met, and organized a church by the following election of officers : Clerk, Carlos Curtis; Wardens, Ichabod Plumb and Joseph Prince. Vestrymen-William Smith, Zonas Ross and Aaron Strong. Lay Readers, David Prince and Carlos Curtis.

It was not until some ten years later that they built their church building, and, in the mean while, they held their services in private houses with Rev. Mr. Stem and others as Rectors. The church building is a brick house with a large triple Gothic window in front, which was consid- ered, at that time, a great achievement in the way of church ornament. This edifice is the third Protestant Episcopal building erected in the State, and among the very first of any de- nominational church buildings. The member- ship now numbers some twelve or fourteen per- sons, who maintain regular services and Sabbath school during the summer months. The leading church of this denomination, however, is at Galena, wbich was organized in 1875, by the Rev. John Ely, with eight or ten members. This drew .a number of members from Berkshire Corners, and now numbers about thirty persons. In 1877, assisted by the community, they built one of the handsomest brick edifices in the county. It is small and plain, built from a plan drawn by a New Jersey architect, at a cost of about $1,750.

Closely following the Episcopalians came the Presbyterian Church. There were at Berkshire Corners several families, Bennett, Gregory and Patterson, who went to services held in the old court house, by Rev. Mr. Hughes, a son-in-law of Col. Byxbe. Once in four weeks, Mr. Hughs came to the settlement and held services in the cabins. About 1818, Rev. Ebenezer Washburn, a Presbyterian minister, came to Berkshire Cor- ners, and it is remembered that he drove into the settlement in a steel-shod sled, a circumstance that gave him no little distinction at the time. He held services in the cabins for two or three years, when he removed to Genoa Township. This denomination seems never to have gained a per- manent home here until the organization of a church in Sunbury, in May, 1868. It started with a membership of some twenty-three, and now numbers some thirty-five. Rev. Robert Wiley was principally instrumental in organizing it. They have no church building, but rent. The

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 449

lower part of the town hall has been fitted up for their use and rented for several years. They maintain a Sabbath school the year round, which numbers about fifty.

The Baptist denomination was represented in Berkshire as early as 1812, by Elder Henry George. He was a Welshman, spoke with a marked brogue, and was a plain man of excellent common sense. A church was not organized, however, until 1835. This occurred in District No. 2, of Trenton Town- ship, and was called the Walnut Creek Baptist Church. Here they occupied a log schoolhouse until 1837, when the church was moved to Sun- bury, and in the succeeding year built their pres- ent place of worship. The church building was built at a cost of some $2,000. The first Pastor after coming to Sunbury was the Rev. Mr. Gil- dersleeve, succeeded by a Rev. Mr. Roberts. It has a membership of some sixty persons, and main- tains a Sunday school the year through. There is a church of the Free-Will Baptist denomina- tion located at Rome Corners. In the winter of 1876-77, the Rev. Mr. Murray, of Sunbury, held a series of meetings which were crowned with abundant success, and he naturally sought to estab- lish a church there. There did not seem to be a desire for such a church, and in a perfectly friendly spirit both minister and people joined in inviting a Rev. Mr. Whittaker to organize the church, which, in 1877, erected a place of worship at a cost of $900.

Sunday schools as they existed in the days of the early settlements were not such as we have now. In many instances the rudiments of educa- tion were joined with instruction in the Scriptures. The first of this sort was opened by Julia Strong, daughter of Maj. Strong, in her father's house about 1814. The house stood on the Gaylord property, near the bridge east of Sunbury. Another school, akin to this, but rather nearer our idea of a Sunday school, was opened about 1816, by Miss Bowen, a sister-in-law of Ebenezer Washburn. Her method was to invite the little folks to her house on Sunday, when she would read them a passage of Scripture, then an historical sketch cal- culated to interest such little minds, and then asked them to learn a short passage from the Bible to repeat on the following Sunday. The Hon. O. D. Hough was one of her scholars, and believes this school to have been the first Sunday school ever held in the eastern part of Delaware County.

The early settlers of Berkshire appear to have been agreed upon the necessity of education, and the historian finds it difficult, with settlements at

three different points in the township, each one of which established a school at the earliest practica- ble moment, to determine the priority in the order of their establishment. The first authentic date we have been able to find is that of a school taught by Maria Denton, in 1810, in a log house near Hon. Ezekiel Brown's farm, now owned by H. Vanfleet. She had some ten scholars who paid for what they got, very much on the "European Hotel plan." This was not, however, the first school in the township. In the north part of the township, east of the Berkshire street, and a few rods south of the Granville road, stood an old round-log schoolhouse, built in the most primitive fashion. This was the first attempt of the Byxbe settlement toward advanced education. When it was built is not known, but it was very early. The first teacher in this schoolhouse was a Miss Thompson, from Worthington ; she was succeeded by Cynthia Sloper, and by Solomon Smith in a winter school. Lucy Caulkins also taught here, but at a much later date. The first school at Sunbury is shrouded in obscurity. A hewed-log schoolhouse which stood on the southwest corner of the square is one of the oldest landmarks, but, to the date of its erection, or when first used for school purposes, the memory of man runneth not. Julia Strong was an early teacher, and perhaps the first, but there is no authentic information on that point. In the southern part of the township, Nathan Dustin was an early teacher. He had a very strict sense of propriety, and was wont to give his scholars short lectures on rules of behavior. On one occasion the "big girls" got very much interested at noon in a game of ball, and played with all the abandon of light-hearted girlhood. This was too much for Mr. Dustin's spirit of pro- priety, and, calling the girls in, he gave them a severe rebuke, imitating their appearance when running, and the unladylike style of the whole proceeding. It proved too much for one girl, and she broke out crying, which ended the discourse. It is not clearly explained whether it was on the principle of "if you won't cry I'll give you a stick of candy," or the natural inclination of his heart, but he made this girl the second of his five wives. Lexton was the name of another teacher in this part of the township, and it is said might well be taken for the original of the doggerel lines :

"Old John Cross kept a village day school, And a cross old man was he, For he spared not the rod as he taught the old rule Of a b c, a b c."

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

He was an Irishman, and had the bad habit of carrying his whisky with him to school, a circum- stance which aggravated the natural severity of his temper. Partially intoxicated, he frequently fell asleep, and, on awaking, punished at random the first one his eyes fell on. It was in one of these moods that he called upon all the larger girls after recess one day, and distributed sundry blows of the "ferule " among them, much to the dis- comfiture of their hands, because they had been sliding on the ice.

The Berkshire Academy was the first attempt in' the way of more advanced schooling. This was a chartered institution, located at Berkshire Corners, and was established in the winter of 1840-41. The building was a small frame, costing about $300 or $400, the expense of which was defrayed by the sale of shares of $10 each. The first session was held in the following winter, with an attendance of about thirty scholars, and G. S. Bailey, from Oberlin, as teacher. This was in the time of the anti-slavery agitation, before Ohio had been largely won over to the cause of human rights, and Oberlin was not a good place to hail from. Bailey was discreet, and said nothing of his future intentions, or of his antecedents, until the last week of the school term. The announcement of his opinions took the community by surprise, for, like the men of old, they looked for nothing good to come out of Nazareth, and, liberal as the old New England settlement was in the matter of education, they could not reconcile themselves to the thought that they had so long harbored an Oberlin agitator in their midst. This school was maintained for some fifteen years, when it was dis- continued for lack of support. The building still exists, and is now used as a residence, just east of the Episcopal church. The influence of this academy. upon its patrons and the township at large cannot be easily estimated. It is a note- worthy fact, however, that the number of its pupils who have achieved more than ordinary distinction is large. Among their number is a Governor, a congressman, and a banker, and one whose active participation in the temperance and anti-slavery work upon the lecture platform has gained for her a wide circle of admirers.

There are two special school districts in this township, organized in 1868, both of which are furnished with fine buildings. The one at Sunbury is a brick structure, somewhat in the form of a cross. The main arm, extending from east to west, is about 38x48 feet; the arm

crossing this at right angles in the center is 13 feet wide, and projects 24 feet in front and 13 feet to the rear. There are accommodations for four departments, but only three have as yet been used. The building stands upon a prominent site, north of the town, is ornamented with colored brick, contains a cellar under all, and is considered by the enthusiastic citizen as the finest school building in the county outside of Delaware. It cost $5,000, and was built in 1878. 'Just before the building was completed a fire broke out in it and threatened to destroy it, occasioning a loss of some $400 to the contractor. The enumeration of the district is 181. The average attendance in the winter is 120, and about 100 in the summer. A gentleman is employed as Principal, and two ladies as assist- ants in the other departments. The salary of the former is fixed at $600 for the school year of nine months. The other teachers are paid $30 per month.

The building in the special district of. Galena is situated near the square on a dry knoll which commands a fine prospect of the Big Walnut and the range of hills beyond. It is a square build- ing, surmounted by a cupola. There are three departments, with a Principal and two assistants, who receive $70 and $30 per month respectively. The latest enumeration showed 145 persons eligi- ble for school privileges. The enrollment reaches 125, with an average attendance of 110.

There are besides these special districts six dis- tricts in the township, which are all supplied with brick houses save Districts Nos. 3 and 4. In these, neat frame buildings, supplied with modern furniture and conveniences, are provided. The first brick schoolhouse was erected in District No. 1, at a cost of $1,000, in 1871. A similar schoolhouse was built in District No. 2 in 1873, at a cost of $900. Districts Nos. 5 and 6 are also provided for in like manner. They are all supplied with improved school furniture, and are up to the most advanced schools of the time in this respect. The enumeration combined in these districts reaches 194. The average salary paid is $35 per month to male. teachers and $20 per month to female teachers, teachers boarding them- selves. The majority of the teachers throughout the township are females. The town hall proper is located at Rome Corners. For some years, the schoolhouse was used for voting purposes, but when a new schoolhouse was built, the old school building was purchased at a cost of $100.

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. -

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CHAPTER XVI.

BERLIN TOWNSHIP-THE GREAT SCARE-HISTORICAL SCRAPS-HISTORY OF VILLAGES, ETC.

" A man, that fortune's buffets and rewards, Hast ta'en with equal thanks."-Shakespeare.

T was all woods about here." Such is the ex- pression which invariably meets the ear of the one seeking information in regard to the early settle- ments. To the generation of to-day the phrase has become trite and nearly meaningless, but the thoughtful observer cannot fail to notice that it is far otherwise to the man who knew the country at that period. To him the phrase presents in one vivid flash all that history tells of the stern, inev- itable experience of the pioneer. Like a bugle blast of Roderick Dhu in Clan-Alpine's glen, it calls up the trackless forest, the unbridged streams, the pangs of hunger felt, days of toil and nights of fear, and

* * * " Most disastrous chances, Of moving accidents by flood and field."

And to get any adequate idea of pioneer life we must put ourselves with him, and then the phrase will mean something. In the whirl and bustle of "the nineteenth century, with one invention hurry- ing another out of date, we are apt to forget that there was ever any need of pioneers. The pioneer of to-day is unworthy the name. Seeking a home in the West, he travels with the rapidity of steam and the ease of a railway car. Set down in some thriving village, he goes not into an unknown country. The great newspapers of the day have been before him ; a special correspondent has been over the spot and has collated the evidence as to soil, water, products, transportation, markets, social privileges and the thousand things affecting the emigrant's business and pleasure. His pockets are crammed with maps and information of the great railroad corporations, which offer him land on " long time and easy payments." Deciding to buy land, his household goods and a house framed and ready to put up are shipped at reduced rates, while improved implements and all the advantages of a pioneer experience of a hundred years, unite to make his work effective. In ten years he is in the center of a civilization combining more privi- leges than the proudest and oldest community of New England knew when the pioneers of this land

were young. What difficulties they encountered and with untiring fortitude overcome, it is the pur- pose of these pages to relate. When they sought the untried country of the West, they launched out like a mariner on an unknown sea. Following a wagon track until that ceased, they passed the frontier and entered an unmapped wilderness, guided only by compass and deed. Arrived at their des- tination, they found themselves alone, in a forest that practically had no limit, with not only a house to build from such material as they could secure unassisted by mill or machinery, but they had to quarry out of the forest a spot on which to place it. The log house, with mud to make it tight, the rude doors and windows, the chimney made of a tottering mass of mud and sticks, the remains of which here and there are yet to be seen, was their home. The fitful flame of the hickory brand was their light and defense by night, and the house- hold dependence by day. The babbling brook furnished a doubtful supply of water until the creaking "sweep" drew from the surer resource of a well the all-important factor in human economy. But all this has long since passed away "like a tale that is told." About us are gathered the fruits of their toil in a civilization to which the world else- where is a stranger, and, looking back along the way the guiding hand of Providence has led the pioneer, we can but with the poet Bryant say,

" What cordial welcomes greet the guest By thy lone rivers of the West ; +

How faith is kept, and truth revered, And man is loved, and God is feared, In woodland homes."

Township 4, Range 18, of the United States Mil- itary Survey, was divided between the townships of Berkshire, Delaware and Liberty from 1806 to 1820. In 1806, Sections 1 and 4 were, with the rest of Berkshire Township, as it then was, erected into a township. This was the shape of Berlin when the first settlers came here. Col. Byxbe owned Section 1 of the fourth township in Range 18, a fact which probably. accounts for the strange division of townships when Berkshire was laid off, and it was not until January 8, 1820, that Berlin

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

453

State presented, were glad to believe the exagger- ated description of the West, and, purchasing their land, started in two wagons. Philo Hoadley, be- sides his wife and three boys, afforded accommoda- dations for Lovell and Lucy Caulkins. Brother and sister went to work, he to clearing a place to raise a support for his father's family, which was to come, and she to teaching school. After clear- ing some three acres, raising a crop of corn and planting seeds for fruit trees, he set about return- ing home. This he did in 1808, and, accompanied by a younger Lewis, went to Fredrickton the first day, thence to Jerometown Indian Camp, thence a third day's journey to a camp in the wood, and from there by way of Cleveland to Connecticut. His report of the country soon raised the Western fever to the highest pitch among those who had known no soil better than the stone-fields of Con- necticut. A company of emigrants was immedi- ately made up, consisting of four families, including those of Roswell Caulkins, Samuel Adams, Jonathan Thompson and John Lewis-in all forty persons. On the 20th of September, 1809, the little colony set its face toward the Hudson River and com- menced its tedious journey to the West. Mrs. Ripley, known then as Julia Caulkins, has left an interesting account of their journey to Berlin, which we quote: "The crossing of this river was to us an object of terror. We arrived on the sec- ond day at Fishkill and took passage in three boats. The one taken by our family proved a leaky affair, the water pouring in on all sides, and it was only with the utmost difficulty that we reached the other shore. At that time I saw a boat slowly moving down stream, without sails, from which issued a dense column of black smoke. 'See! father,' I cried, 'there is a boat on fire!' He replied, 'That is the great wonder, Fulton's experiment, that we have read so much about in the papers.'

"On reaching the Blue Ridge, the first range of the Alleghany Mountains, the ascent was found so difficult, and the roads so cut up by the heavy team- ing, that it was found necessary to lighten the teams as far as possible. The men stayed back with the teams, which, forced to stop frequently to breathe, made slow progress. The women formed the advance guard, carrying rifles and shot-guns all the way over the mountains. What added to the difficulties of the journey was the frequent meeting with the immense wagons that transport goods over the mountains. Three small bells worn in a brass frame above the head of each horse,

announced the approach of these land-ships. On our journey we often fell in with other cmigrants, and sometimes saw the adventurous bridegroom walking beside his hopeful bride, mounted on a pack-saddle which contained all their earthly treas- ure. From Zanesville to Newark, and thence through Granville, we reached a cluster of cabins called the Welsh settlement, on the border of the 'long woods,' where we prepared for a night in the wilderness. We at once plunged into the forest with no guide save the blazed trees, starting up, as we traveled, flocks of wild turkeys and numbers of deer. Our camp was pitched on the bank of a brook, where the gay attire of the leaves combined with our brilliant camp-fires to render the scene a grand one. The wolves did not seem to approve of our demonstration, and made the woods vocal with their howling. We proceeded early next morning, and before sunset on October 30 we reached our destination, having been forty days on our journey."

Capt. John Lewis, of this party, was the first permanent resident in the southeast quarter of the township, east of the creek. From time to time, others arrived to gladden the hearts of the settlers, and to help bear the burdens of frontier life. In 1806, Berkshire, of which Berlin was then a part, took on the functions of a township as a part of Franklin County. The post office was at Franklinton, and the place of voting at Worthington, then at Berkshire Corners, and later at Joseph Eaton's and Dr. Loofbourrow's. There were small stores of groceries and dry goods within eight miles, where British calico might be purchased at 50 cents per yard, and common tea at $1.50 per pound. During the war of 1812, and afterward, these goods advanced to almost double this price, while wheat sold for only 37} cents per bushel, and dressed pork sold for only $1.50 per hundred weight.

A prominent factor in the society of this com- munity, at this time, were the Indians. To ex- press it in the language of one of the pioneers, they were " thick as blackbirds," and, while they never disputed the settler's right to settle and shoot the game, they felt that they had a right to a part of the corn and vegetables grown in the settlement. It was some time before the early settlers could look upon them with equanimity. The stories of the horrible massacres during the early history of the New England States were fresh in their minds, and the unprotected situation in which they found themselves gave rise to not unreasonable

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. .

apprehensions. A longer experience and judicious treatment of the savages did much to allay these fears. The Indians accepted the intrusion of the white man as a part of fate, and made a virtue of necessity. A remarkable instance of their tract- ability is related by Rev. John W. Thompson, which we give from an historical sermon, preached in Berlin in 1858. Not long after the arrivals in 1809, " an Indian committed some depredation on Mr. Cowgill's family. The inhabitants from other neighborhoods came to their assistance, and at once proceeded to the Indian camp. The criminal, seeing them approach, and being left to his fate by the rest of the tribe, retired to his wigwam, and covered his head with his blanket, expecting immediate death. The whites instead took him a prisoner to Berkshire. The next morning his tribe came, with their faces painted red, in token of peace. As nothing was done with the prisoner, they soon left, but returned in the afternoon tat- tooed with black, as a declaration of war. Said they, ' Kill him, we nothing say, but no keep him to torture.' The settlers considering discretion the better part of valor, dismissed him on condi- tion never to come back again. He was never seen there afterward." Another incident illustrates an unusual feature of the Indian. A company of them came one time and pitched their camp within a few rods of the cabin of Jonathan Thompson, who lived on the east side of the creek, on the Constant tract. They were of a generous turn, and made friendly advances to the " stranger," sending him a choice piece of meat when they killed a deer, and lending assistance frequently. Mr. Thompson, noticing that they remained near their wigwams on Sunday, asked them why they did not hunt on that day. The answer came, " No good Indian hunt Sunday; the Great Spirit see." There were numerous parties of these In- dians attracted hither by the game or the maple trees, which afforded an excellent opportunity of making sugar, of which they were very fond. It was a great source of entertainment to the settlers to go to these camps in the evening, and visits were frequently made. The Indian had his own way of entertaining company, and was quite " put out " if his efforts to make himself agreeable were slighted. This was usually a banter to wrestle. His " hold " was neither " square " nor " side," nor " back hold," but a sort of back and side hold combined, which the settlers called Indian hug, and many of them became very proficient in it. On one occasion, old man Lewis, who was a vigor-

ous man, with several others, was at the sugar camp. One of the braves bantered one after the other of the young men to wrestle, but got only excuses, and finally came to Mr. Lewis. He plead his age as an excuse, but the Indian was not to be put off, and they clinched. The story goes, that, after a vigorous tussle, Lewis got his foot well braced, and threw his antagonist heavily to the ground; who got up laughing as heartily as though he had been the victor. Joe and George Bigtree were Indians who were familiarly known in the Berlin settlement, and, during the war of 1812, were frequently there with faces painted red, indic- ative of their peaceful intentions.

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History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 77

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