History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 98

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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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

and its citizens held out inducements to rebuild the church and locate it there. At a meeting of the society, the Board of Trustees were directed to rebuild the church at Olive Green, which was done accordingly ; and the new and much more capacious edifice was erected in the year 1853. Many of the membership in the southern part of the township obtained their letters from the Olive Green charge and joined the M. E. Church at Berkshire.

The same year the Old Blue Church was built, Moses Decker, Isaac Finch, Samuel Finley and a few others, and their Pastor, Rev. Mr. Jinks, came together and organized a Sunday school, and held it in the old log schoolhouse on the corner, near the church. It is thought this was the first Sabbath school organized in Delaware County. They organized at the same time the first Sunday- school library in the county. It was made up of small Sabbath-school books and kept by the Super- intendent, Mr. Decker, in a trunk, which is now in his possession. The M. E. Sabbath school was the second in order of time in the county, but it was organized several years afterward.

The first schoolhouse in the township was built on the farm owned by Mr. Curtis, on the Little Walnut Creek, an about a mile from the south line. Mr. R. S. Lott now owns the farm. A Miss Eliza String taught the first school. The year when this house was built is not known, but it is supposed to have been built about the year 1820. The second schoolhouse was the one spoken of near the Blue Church, and the first teacher was Mr. James Wheeler, then a young man, ahout twenty-one years of age. He was a native of the Wyoming Valley, and had hut recently immi- grated to Kingston. He had many relatives among the early families from the Wyoming Val- ley, who settled in the eastern part of the county. He was well educated for that period, and his in- telligence and upright life made him a universal favorite. He was raised in the Presbyterian Church, but when quite a young man he united himself with the Methodist Episcopal Church. In a few years he was licensed to preach, taken into the conference, and, when still a young man, en- tered the itinerant service, and succeeded the Rev. James B. Finley, as missionary among the Wyan- dot Indians, with whom he became very popular. When that tribe was removed to their Western home in Kansas, he again engaged in the routine duties of the ministry, until failing health com- pelled him to enroll himself upon the superannuated

list, and he settled among his friends in Benning- ton, Morrow County. Many years ago, he was appointed Postmaster, an office he retained until his death. He continued to preach as long as he lived, when his health permitted it. In 1876, when quite infirm from age, and in poor health, he went to Bucyrus to hold a quarterly meeting for a friend. 'On his way to the depot in Bucyrus when he started home, he was thrown from his carriage, and so severely hurt that he died from his injuries in a few days. This was the sad end of this devout and holy man of God. He left a widow and several children. His youngest son, who was a gallant officer in the war of the rebellion, and lost a limb, was County Treasurer of Morrow County for four years, and discharged the duties of this responsible office with great promptness and fidelity.

The next schoolhouse built in the township was in what is known as the Virginia School District, and was located on the farm of Gilbert Potter. These schools were then supported by private subscription. But as the newer portions of the township settled up, and the population increased," new school districts and schoolhouses from time to time were erected. There are now seven school districts, all containing capacious and comfortable frame or brick schoolhouses-structures with com- fortable stoves, seats and desks, and with glass windows for the reception of light. The old log schoolhouse, with its puncheon floor, rough benches and greased-paper windows, has passed away with other relics of the pioneer days. Other changes are equally as marked, both in general society and domestic circles.

The temperance example set by Mr. Decker and his friends at the raising of Elder Wigton's barn and the Blue Church was soon followed by others at raisings and log-rollings, at that day quite common, and the friends of the cause of temper- ance rapidly increased in number throughout the township, and very many, by this example, were induced to discontinue the use of intoxicating liquors altogether. It was about this time a tem- perance society was organized to promote sobriety, and protect the rising generation from the bane- ful influence of intoxicating liquors, and from that day temperance has been a striking feature of the citizens of all parties and all sects. The exhorta- tion of the Apostle of the Gentiles to " live soberly, righteously and godly in this present life," seems to have addressed itself with peculiar force to those pioneers. Volumes have been written

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containing much less advice than is contained in this pithy sentence. It contains man's whole duty. If he lives soberly, he discharges a duty he owes to himself ; if he lives righteously, he discharges a duty he owes to others, and if he lives godly, he discharges a duty he owes to his Creator. The influence for good of this temperance movement in that early day cannot be overestimated; for the good it created spread over the entire county.

Kingston has ever been free from miasmatic. fevers and malignant epidemics. From the first settlement the inhabitants of this township seem to have enjoyed robust health, which is to be attributed, at least in part, to its pure air and water, as well as the temperate habits of the peo- ple. But it is " appointed unto all men once to die." Kingston Township has two cemeteries. The first is at the "Old Blue Church," and was taken from the farm of Isaac Finch. The other is by the old Methodist Episcopal Church near Stark's Corners. One portion of the cemetery was deeded to the Township Trustees by James Stark, Sr., and the other portion was deeded by John Van Sickle. In 1876, the Trustees of Porter and Kingston Township bought an addition to the cemetery from I. Sherman, thus enlarging the grounds and locating it in the two townships. It has the remains of an Indian, who returned with the Rev. Mr. Chase from the West, many years ago. He, during the winter, went to the Big Walnut Creek, and cut a hole in the ice to bathe. The cold bath proved too severe for him ; he took cold and it settled upon his lungs, produc- ing pneumonia, from which he died. He was buried in this cemetery by his white friends, the Chase family. While there are no towns or vil- lages in Kingston, the townships adjacent contain a half-dozen or more. In Peru, on the north, is

Woodbury and West Liberty ; in Porter, on the east, are Olive Green and East Liberty ; in Berk- shire, on the south, are Sunbury, Galena and the village of Berkshire, and, in Brown, on the west, is the village of Old Eden and Eden Station. Many of those among the living in Kingston worship in the churches of these villages, and many, too, bury their dead in their cemeteries.

, Politically, this township has always been one- sided, so far as party was concerned. The old Whig party was. greatly in the ascendency, num- bering at the polls on election day five to one of the opposite party. And more recently, since the re-organization of parties, the Republicans pre dominate to about the same extent. Out of the 150 voters in the township, the Republicans would have on a full poll about 120 votes and the Dem- ocrats 30 votes. It is usually a straight vote between the two leading parties. There are no factions in parties, nor schisms in church. Political opinions, however much they may differ in this township, are nevertheless . honestly entertained, and each party is alike patriotic. In the late war for the suppression of the rebellion, Democrats and Republicans, here as elsewhere, exhibited the same degree of patriotism and bravery, and to preserve the Union made the same sacrifices of blood and treasure. We will mention so far as we are able to ascertain, the names of those who gave their lives to save their country, and to-day fill a soldier's grave, viz., James Ferguson, Allen Potter, Patrick Elliott, of the Fourth Regiment of the Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry, William Brown, Thomas Carney, Sid. Stark, Henry Stark, L. Foulk, Ben Kemp- ton, Charles Kempton, S. Stockwell, Robert McClintic, William White and Mr. Bear, all of whom, as near as can be ascertained, belonged to the One Hundred and Twenty-first Regiment.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

575

CHAPTER XXVII .*

PORTER TOWNSHIP-PIONEER TIMES-EARLY FAMILIES-GROWTH OF SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES -ROADS AND EARLY INDUSTRIES.

"Ye pioneers, it is to you The debt of gratitude is due ; Ye builded wiser than ye knew, The broad foundation On which our superstructure stands ; Your strong right arms and willing hands, Your earnest efforts still command Our veneration."

-Pearre.

THE precise date of the organization of this township is not known. It was some time between the 1st of March, 1826, and the 1st of March, 1827. The journal of the County Commissioners, from 1821 to 1831, which con- tain the order creating Porter Township, was mislaid, but it is quite certain the order was made at the June session of the Commissioners io 1826. It was named after the Hon. Robert Porter, of the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, who received, from John Adams, the second President of the United States, a patent for 4,000 acres of land in this township, it being Section 3, in the fifth township of Range 16, in the lands appropriated and set apart by Congress to satisfy warrants issued by the Govern- ment for military service. It is believed this was the first patent issued by the Government for lands in this township.

The principal stream in the township is Big Walnut Creek. This stream has its source in the northern part of Harmony Township, in Morrow County, which, in an early day, was known by the expressive name of " Big Belly Swamp." The swamp contained several hundred acres of land, and was covered with water the year round. A large beaver dam surrounded a large portion of swamp, which must have been constructed, judg- ing from the size of the timber growing upon it, by these ingenious amphibious animals before the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. The banks adjacent to this stream are not high, and, in time of a flood, when the country was new and the channel obstructed by flood-wood, it fre- quently overflowed its banks, and the stream, too,

especially the upper part and near its source, was called " Big Belly," which was thought to be an appropriate name to give it when on a " boom." Big Walnut Creek runs, in a southerly direction, through Morrow County, and crosses the line into Porter Township about one mile and a half east of the west line, and crosses the south line of the township about one-half mile from the west line. It is a branch of the Scioto River, and intersects the Scioto near the line between the county of Franklin and Pickaway. Big Walnut Creek is one of the largest of the tributaries of the Scioto River. There is much rich bottom land along this stream, and, before the forest was felled by the axe of the woodman, there was an abundance of valuable timber, such as black walnut, hickory, butternut, ash, oak and the sugar maple. Wild grapes, wild plums and black haws were in abundance. This stream has a great number of tributaries in Porter Township, among which are Long Run, which has its source in Morrow County, and runs west and south west until it intersects Big Walnut, a distance of about three miles from the northeast corner of the township. Long Run is very meandering, and has a great number of small tributaries fed by springs and spring runs.

Further to the south is Sugar Creek, which runs diagonally from the northeast corner to the southwest, through the township, to its intersec- tion, about one mile from the south line, and is well supplied with springs and spring runs ; and, still further south, running in the same direction, from the east part of the township, is Sugar Creek, with large tributaries, among which is the Wilcox Run. Sugar Creek is quite a large stream, and has its source among the springs at the foot of Rich Hill, in the edge of Knox County, and in- tersects the Big Walnut in Trenton Township, on the south of Porter. It will be seen, by reference to a map, that these streams have their sources in the dividing ridge which separates the waters flowing in a southeasterly direction to the Mus- kingum River, and the waters flowing in a south- westerly direction to the Scioto. This dividing

* Contributed by Hon. J. R. Hubbell.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

ridge is near the line between Knox County and Delaware. It will be seen, too, that this township is well supplied with a great abundance of pure, healthy water, both for family use and stock. In this respect its advantages are not equaled by any township in the county. This township, too, is blessed with pure air and clear water, and has been noted for its health and freedom from epi- demics and malignant fevers. Porter possessed almost every variety of timber, before the first set- tlement was made by the white people, to be found in the State of Ohio. Along all these streams we have named, walnut, ash, hickory, sycamore, sugar maple, spice-bush underbrush and papaw, were found in great abundance. Upon the higher and more rolling lands, there were white oak, ash, beech, hickory, sugar maple, and in the swails and on the flat lands there was elm, red oak and black ash. The hickory, white oak and beech covered the- ground with mast or shack for the squirrel, ground- hog, the wild turkey and the deer, upon which these animals fed and grew fat, and furnished meat for the pioneer and his family. Soon after do- mestic animals were introduced, swine fattened upon mast, and the woods were soon filled with wild hogs. There is no waste land in this town- ship. Along the streams, there is considerable bottom land, which possesses a rich and fertile soil. Back and off the streams, the lands are gently undulating and rolling. There is some flat land that requires drainage, but not a large por- tion of the township. The network of creeks, brooks, and spring runs, that nature spread over these lands, superseded the necessity, to a great extent, of artificial drainage. The soil in this township is well adapted to the growing of wheat, corn, oats, barley, flax, and all the productions raised in this climate, but the great supply of pure water for stock, and the luxuriant pastures, make the lands more profitable for grazing than for farming purposes. There are no mineral lands in this township, and the occupations of farming and graz- ing furnish most of. the inhabitants with employ- ment. All kinds of grasses grown in this latitude do well in this township-timothy, red-top and clover. The blue grass, which springs up without the grounds being seeded, does well on the newly cleared land. Along the Big Walnut Creek, the Waverly sandstone crops out, and furnishes the country valuable quarries. This stone is of nearly the same composition as that found at Berea, but of a much finer grit and quality, and the vein contains a less quantity. On the farm of Zenas

Harrison, situated on the west side of the Big Walnut Creek, is a quarry of this stone. An in- vestigation of the depth and extent of this quarry has not been made, but it is known to be a stone of superior quality for building purposes, and probably extends down into the earth to a great depth, and belongs to the Waverly vein, reach- ing from the Scioto River, in Pike County, to Berea, in Cuyahoga.

Porter Township is bounded on the north by Bennington Township, in Morrow County ; on the east by Hilliard Township, in Knox County ; on the south, by Trenton, and on the west by Kings- ton, and is designated in the United States Mil- itary District as Township 5, in Range 16. In chronological order, it is the youngest township in the county. It was the last township organized by the County Commissioners within the present limits of Delaware County. There have been no changes in the original boundary since its first organization, and no survey of the township has been made since the original Government Survey. The first village or town in this township was Olive Green, and was laid out in 1835. The pro- prietors were Christopher Lindenberger and Festus Sprague. The surveying and platting was done by Joel Z. Mendenhall, Esq. The village was laid out in eight regular squares, and has eight streets and several alleys. It is located upon the State road that runs from Mount Vernon to Co- lumbus in a southwesterly direction, and at its crossing of the north and south road, running from Sunbury to Mount Gilead, in Morrow County, and is about one-half mile from the Big Walnut Creek, on the west. The main street is on the Mount Vernon and Columbus road, on which all the business is done and the inhabitants reside. The original site of this village was seemly and suitable for a town, and at one time it had the prospect of becoming a flourishing village, but, like " some flower born to blush unseen," was doomed to suffer disappointment. In the year 1851, the Springfield, Mount Vernon & Pittsburgh Railroad Company was organized under a former charter, and projected a railroad from Springfield, Ohio, to a point that would intersect the Pittsburgh & Fort Wayne Railroad in Wayne County, and passing through Mount Vernon and Olive Green. The right of way was purchased, and the earth- work on the road was prosecuted until its comple- tion nearly the entire length of the road, but upon the completion of the western part of the road to Delaware, the Company was compelled for the

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want of means to abandon the enterprise. Olive Green contains now two stores-Mr. D. Morehouse has one, and Mr. Conard occupies the old store- room of Mr. James N. Stark. It has two churches; one blacksmith-shop, worked by John Roberts ; one physician, Dr. Foster; one shoe-shop ; one millinery establishment, kept by Miss Mary M. Connard, and one carpenter and joiner shop. It has about forty dwelling-houses, and contains about one hundred inhabitants. The Kingston Center -Post Office is located here. The Postmaster is D. Morehouse. The first Postmaster in Olive Green was Mr. James N. Stark, who was appointed in 1860. The first store in the town and town- ship was kept by Mr. Christopher Lindenberger, one of the proprietors of the town. Mr. Baird built the first frame house. East Liberty was the second and the only other town in Porter. It was laid out in 1840, by William Page, Jr., on his farm, situated on the east bank of Big Walnut Creek, and the Mount Vernon and Columbus State road, about one-half mile east of Olive Green. It was laid off into four regular squares, and the lots were readily sold. The purchasers built houses, and it for awhile flourished as a business point of some importance, but the fail- ure of the railroad discouraged the parties most interested from further efforts in the way of making improvements. There is one saw-mill, owned by Mr. W. Page, and the Presbyterians have a church edifice, and there still remains in this village a schoolhouse and some thirty or forty inhabitants. It formerly contained nearly one hundred inhabitants. The first physician whe settled in this village was Dr. H. Bessee, who lo- cated here in 1847, and remained in East Liberty until the commencement of the war in 1861. He now lives in Delaware. The physicians practicing in this vicinity, prior to Dr. Bessee, were Dr. Elijah Carney, of Berkshire, and Dr. Samuel Page, of Pagetown, in Morrow County. The first hotel was kept by Mr. George Blainey, and he was the first Postmaster of the place. The infidel writer, Volney, meditating upon the ruins of Palmyra, said : "Here once flourished an opulent city, but to the tumultuous throng that once visited these temples has succeeded the solitude of death." It is not likely the wail of lamentation by a distant traveler will ever be heard over the ruins of this deserted village.

In the absence of an authenticated record, after three generations have come and gone, it is diffi- cult to give an early history in detail of the first

settlers. More than seventy years have elapsed since the first pioneer settled in Porter ; and it is only those to whom an unusual length of days has been allotted by Providence, that are now living of those who were then born. In sketching the early settlers, though not one of them, the name of Robert Porter must not be overlooked. It was to him the first patent for 4,000 acres in the United States military land in this township was issued. He belonged to one of the most prominent families in the State of Pennsyl- vania, and was a lawyer by profession, and, for many years, a Circuit Judge in his native State. He frequently came to Porter to look after his lands ; at a very early day and about forty years ago, his son, Robert W. Porter, lived for a short time in this township. As we have seen, Judge Porter's patent was issued by President John Adams, on the 21st day of March in the year 1800, nearly three years before Ohio was received into the Union as a State, and when there was not a white man living within the present boundaries of Delaware County. The family name of the principal proprietor of this township is historical. The Hon. James M. Porter, of Easton, in the State of Pennsylvania, was a lawyer by profession and eminent at the bar. He was a Cabinet Min- ister under the Administration of John Tyler, and held the portfolio of the War Department. He was a younger brother of Judge Porter. Another brother, David R. Porter, was a great party leader in the politics of his time, and, in the year 1837, succeeded Joseph Ritner as Governor of the State of Pennsylvania ; he was re-elected, serving two terms, each of three years, and proved an able and popular Governor. The first settlement in this township was made by squatters in the Porter sec- tion, and perhaps as early as the year 1807. A number of families settled on this section before the war of 1812 as squatters, and followed the occupations of fishing, hunting and trapping. Not being the owners of the lands on which they settled, they had no motive to improve them. They were a rude people, and much given to frolic and pleasurable indulgence. They subsisted on wild game and wild hogs, and raised but little grain. They were known in an early day as " Taways," although they were white people, and not of blood kin to the Indian tribe of that name. Like all the early settlers of Delaware County, they were from different States and of different nationalities-English, Dutch and Irish-and their descendants were among these backwoodsmen. It

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has been supposed by some, from the fact that Section 4 in this township was popularly called the " Irish Section," that these people were Irish Paddies or their descendants ; but such was not the case. Many of these families were from the Wyoming Valley in the State of Pennsylvania. The name of the " Irish Section " was applied to Section 4, for the reason that the legal repre- sentatives of Hugh Holmes and Robert Rainey, who located this section, were residents of Ireland, and the patent for these lands was issued by Pres- ident James Monroe on the 28th day of Novem- ber in the year 1817, to the heirs at law of Hugh Holmes and Robert Rainey, who at that time lived in Ireland. These parties, by their attorney in fact, on the 10th day of April, 1837, conveyed this section to George C. Bumford, of the city of Washington, and, in 1837, Col. Bumford con- veyed by deed this section to John W. Worden, and soon afterward Worden conveyed one-half of this section to Benjamin S. Brown, of Mount Ver- non, Knox Co., Ohio. Mr. Brown died late in the autumn of 1838, and it was not until about this date that this section was brought into market. There were squatters on this section of the " Ta- way tribe " much earlier than this, perhaps soon after the war. These peculiar families were not enterprising ; their wants were few, and however many were their sins, the sin of covetousness was not one of them, nor was the sin of ambition, which caused the angels to fall, their sin. They took no interest in schoolhouses or churches, and but few of them were ever known to darken the door of the house of prayer. They obeyed at least one Scripture injunction-they took no thought for the morrow-and, like the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, " they toiled not, neither did they spin."

This tract of land was set apart in the first place by act of Congress, to satisfy warrants issued by the Government for military service, but this section, by a subsequent act of Congress, was granted to the United Brethren society for the purpose of propagating the Gospel among the heathen. These "Taways," perhaps, were not especially benefited by this grant, but it is certain no heathen in pagan lands ever stood in greater need of the Gospel than they did. One of the earliest among the pioneers was Daniel Pint, who lived and died in Porter; then came Timothy Meeker and Timothy Murphy, all of whom raised large families, but few, if any, of their descendants are now living in that part of the county. The

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History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 98

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