History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 104

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co.
Number of Pages: 1096

USA > Ohio > Knox County > History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present > Part 104

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John Welker was the first merchant and also the first postmaster. Israel Dillon was another of the early merchants and leading business men. The first tanyard was built in 1829 by Jacob Garret. Samuel Welker kept the first hotel .. This hotel was the favorite resort of the students of Kenyon college when that institution was in its palmiest days. During the summer season they would make frequent trips in small boats down Owl creek to the locality known as "The Caves," near Millwood. After rusticating among the caves and hills until satisfied they would adjourn to "Uncle Sam's" ho- tel where they would spend many hours in social conviviality before returning to Gambier.

There are three churches in the town, Metho- dist, Presbyterian, and Disciple. The first church was erected in 1833; it was a small brick building, and known as the "Union church," no particular denomination having control but free for all sects to hold meetings in.

The Episcopal church was organized about 1831. Jacob Hammond, John Welker, James Britton, and their wives, were of the first members. Rev. John Hazzard and -- Hooper were of the first who preached in this society. Some of the later pas- tors were Revs. Abner Gough, Hiram Shafer, Jacob Hammond, David Gray, and Abner Shaw, the pres- ent minister. The society worshipped in the Un- ion church several years, when it became unsafe and was torn down, after which they held their meetings in the school-house until about 1850, when the present frame building was erected. The origi- nal membership was about twelve, the present, seventy-three.

The Presbyterian church at Millwood is a con- tinuation of the Danville Presbyterian church which was organized at an early day at Danville, and after an existence of several years the organization was transferred to Millwood and thereafter known as the Millwood Presbyterian church. The society worshipped some years in the Union church, school-house, and private houses, when on the seventh of January, 1855, a deed for the building

lot was made, and soon after the church in which the congregation now worship was built. Rev. John Burns, a graduate of Kenyon college, was the first pastor, and remained such until his death in 1859. The society being weak there has been no settled pastor since his decease. Rev. J. Newell, Rev. Henry Hervey, J. D. Walkinshaw, and Newton have preached at various times. The origi- nal membership was fourteen, present, forty. Jesse Winterringer and Ephraim McMillin were the first elders. The present elders are Daniel L. McGugin, Edward Gash, and Jesse Winterringer. During the pastorate of Rev. John Burns he taught a select school which was attended by students from various portions of the county.

The "Disciples of Christ" organized a society in 1858. The early members of this church were William Moody, Albert Ellis, Lewis Critchfield and wife, William Cassell, Laura Moody, Benja- min Ellis and wife, Eliza Gist, Elizabeth Cassell, Norman Farmer and wife, and John Wolford and wife. The first officers were: Elders William Moody, Albert Ellis; Deacons Lewis Critchfield and William Cassell. The first pastor was Elder William Moody, who was succeeded by Elders William H. Taylor, Uriah Hoffman, Charles Van Voorhes, and O. W. Kyle. The church has no pastor at this time. A frame church was erected in 1858. The society is in a flourishing condition, having eighty members in full connection with the church at present. A Sunday-school is connected with the church; Abram Ryan is superintendent. There are several other features of the town which adds to its completeness, and its desirableness as a place of residence. A fine, new iron bridge spans Owl creek at the approach on the southeast of the village. Much beautiful natural scenery is to be found in the immediate vicinity, consisting of beautiful high hills, rocky elevations, and "the caves," a subterranean opening in the banks of Owl creek. The town has one first-class dry goods store, one grocery, one shoe store, two hotels, one harness shop, one shoe shop, etc.

Gann, formerly Mt. Holly, was laid out by John Hibbitts in 1838. It is finely situated on the east side of the Mohican river. It has a population of about two hundred. The name was changed from Mt. Holly to Gann by the president of the Cleve-

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

land, Mt. Vernon & Columbus. railroad, in honor of George Gann, deceased. John Hibbitt built the first house, Robert Long built the first grist- mill about 1840. It is still standing and is now owned by Isaac and James Thompson. Isaac Means kept the first store. The village contains two dry goods stores, two groceries, one hardware store, two hotels, one drug store, one harness shop, one blacksmith shop, etc. The village school is taught by Joseph Bluebaugh. Joshua Ferenbaugh is the agent for the Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Co- lumbus railroad. A fine iron bridge, several hun- dred feet long, spans the Mohican river.

There are two church edifices in the town, but only one organization at this time. The Method- ists organized a church in 1848. At that time a series of meetings were held in the village by Rev. Lawrence, resulting in a large number of conver- sions, and a class of some forty members was formed; James and John Hibbitts and Elizabeth Titus were of the first members. Rev. Lawrence was the first pastor. His successors were Revs. Jacobs, Wheeler, Baughman, Barnes, Markum, Houston, Harris, and Ayres, the present pastor. The church was built in 1864.

The United Brethren organized a society and built a church in 1864. Some of the first mem- bers were Stephen Day, William Black, Charles Hibbitts, L. Severns and their wives, Isaac Hyatt, and Edward Day. The organization continued a few years, when it was discontinued and the church building sold to the Catholics. There is no organ- ization of Catholics in Gann, the church being used principally for funeral occasions.

Rossville was laid out by Jacob Ross, about the time of the completion of the railroad. It is sit- uated one-half mile south of Danville, and has a population of about two hundred and twenty-five. It is a live village and is steadily advancing. There are one dry goods store, one drug store, one grocery, one hardware store, one steam flouring-mill, one planing-mill and lumber yard, one jewelry shop, one hotel, etc., in the village. As yet there are no churches erected in the village. Last and least is Buckeye City, laid out in the fall of 1880 by J. C. Tilton, who has an insurance office in the embryo village. The new school edifice, a large and sub- stantial brick building, is located in the village.

These structures, with two or three dwellings, com- prise the sum total of buildings. As the village is situated midway between Danville and Rossville, it is not probable that it will ever attain much prominence. 'T'he three villages will, no doubt, in course of time be consolidated.

Cavallo was among the many towns that have had an existence in Union. It.was located in the southeastern part of the township, on the Mohican, and for several years enjoyed a large measure of prosperity. From 1840 to 1848 were its best days. Three or four large warehouses were erected for the receiving of the exports and imports that were conveyed to and from the town, and shipped via the Mohican through the Walhonding canal. The building of numerous railroads in central Ohio was the cause of its death, for it ceased to be . a village many years ago, and no trace is left to mark its location.

CHAPTER LXV.

WAYNE TOWNSHIP.

ORGANIZATION AND DIMENSIONS-TOPOGRAPHY-MOUND BUILDERS AND THEIR WORKS -- THE INDIANS-KILLING OF THE INDIAN HORSE THIEVES BY HUGHES AND RATLIFF -REMAINS OF THE INDIANS THUS KILLED-FIRST SET- TLERS-NATHANIEL MITCHELL YOUNG-THE "JERSEY SETTLEMENT"-TRAPPING WOLVES-THE QUAKERS -- OC- TOBER ELECTION OF 1808-ROADS-MILLS-LUCERNE- THE LEWIS BLOCK-HOUSE-GREENVALLEY-CHURCHES- JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.

And I have said, and I say it ever,

As the years go on and the world goes over,

'Twere better to be content and clever, In the tending of cattle and tossing of clover, In the grazing of cattle and the growing of grain, Than a strong man striving for fame or gain. JOAQUIN MILLER.

THE original Wayne township was No. 1 in the T division of the county into four townships by the county commissioners at their session May 2, 1808. The journal reads :

Ordered, That the following bounds be laid off into a separate township, to-wit: Beginning at west boundary line of said county between the fifth and seventh township line, and running east to the west of the thirteenth range line, thence north to the centre of the seventh township line; thence on the east to the

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

east line of the thirteenth range; thence north to the county line which shall be called and known by the name of Wayne township.

Recorded April 5, 1809.

In the commissioners' journal, April 15, 1815, this entry is found:

Ordered, That all that part of Knox county lying north of Wayne township be attached to the said Wayne township, and henceforth be considered a part of the same.

Again, June 8, 1813, the following entry is found in the commissioners' journal :

Ordered, That the boundaries of Wayne township shall be altered, and that in future the following shall be the boundaries, and recorded as such : Beginning at the southeast corner of township number seven, range number fourteen, and running to the southwest corner of the same; thence due north to the north boundary of Knox county; thence east on said boundary so far that a line running due south would strike the old boun- dary line where the line between the thirteenth and fourteenth range in the old purchase strikes the old boundary; thence to run south on the last described south line to the place of begin- ning.

May 2, 1820, the commissioners again used the pruning knife, as the pages of their journal is evi- dence:

Ordered, That the east boundary line of Wayne township be altered as follows, to-wit: The alterations to begin at the northwest corner of Ellicott's section in the eighth township and thirteenth range, and running east to the southeast corner of lot number eleven; thence north so as to strike the centre of section number four, township number eighteen; thence north to the county line, which line shall henceforth be the division line of said township.

March 9, 1825, an entry on the commissioners' journal reads as follows:

Wayne township shall be composed of the seventh township in the fourteenth range.

In 1830 it listed sixteen thousand two hundred and fifty-eight acres of land for taxation, and con- tained one thousand and forty-eight inhabitants. In 1850 it contained one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four inhabitants, in 1860, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine; in 1870, one thou- sand six hundred and fifty-eight, and in 1880, one thousand six hundred and eighteen.

The above quotations from the journal of the commissioners are unintelligible to the general reader, owing in part to the fact that the whole of Richland county, which included parts of the present Ashland and Crawford counties, was at first a part of Knox, as was also a part of the pres- ent Morrow county. Wayne was named in honor

of "Mad Anthony" Wayne, the hero of Stony Point and Fallen Timbers, and at one time em- braced within its limits the present townships of Franklin and Chester, in Morrow county, and Middlebury, Berlin, Wayne, and the north half of Morris townships in this county. Reductions were made from time to time, and it reached its present dimensions in 1825, as stated in the commission- er's report.

Topographically considered, the township, at the present day, presents a beautiful appearance, every acre of its soil, except the timber land, being under a high state of cultivation. It is well watered, the surface gently rolling, and possesses uncommon at- tractions to the agriculturalist and the seeker after a prosperous and happy home.

In its primitive condition it was densely tim- bered with all varieties of hard wood-beech, oak, hickory, ash, sugar, black walnut, and other varie- ties, the beech, perhaps, predominating. Possibly one or two little patches of prairie appeared on the Owl creek bottom, whether cleared of timber by Indians or white men, or whether natural prai- ries will probably remain unknown. The south branch of Owl creek passes across the township near its centre, from west to east, and this, with its numerous branches, waters the northern and cen- tral portions, while the pretty and historical little stream called Granny's creek, with its tributaries, waters the southern portion. Many mills were, in an early day, erected along these two streams, and around these mills clustered a large amount of fact and romance that might profitably enter into these pages could it be gathered and truthfully pre- sented.

Centuries before any white man set foot on its soil, possibly before any white man had an exis- tence in the now known world, this same territory of Wayne township was inhabited, perhaps densely populated, by that "lost race" known as the Mound Builders. Where they came from, who they were, and what became of them, are ques- tions as yet unanswered-problems yet unsolved and probably unsolvable.

So far as known none of their works now exist in this township, with the single exception of one in the woods, not well preserved, in the southern part ; but when the first settlers came a very perfect

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

work existed within the present limits of the town of Fredericktown. The older inhabitants of this place yet remember this work. Its location was upon the highest point of the hill, upon which the town stands, directly in Sandusky street, a little east of the public square. The entire work cov- ered perhaps an acre of ground, and included a portion of the lots upon which the present Metho- dist and Baptist churches stand, and also contigu- ous lots. In the grading of the street and build- ing of the houses, the work has entirely disap- peared. The embankment was in a circular form, two or three feet in height, with ditch inside, and a gateway opening toward the east. A mound was within this enclosure, and in size was thirty or forty feet in diameter at the base and seven or eight feet in height at the date of the first settlement. The soil here is somewhat sandy and loose, and favorable to the erection of these works. The Mound Builders seemed to have a preference for sandy, loamy soil, and seldom erected their works upon other soil. From the summit of this mound an extensive view could be had of the valley of the Owl creek, several miles to the southward, and across the valley to the hills some distance east- ward. Some three or four other mounds, located in Morris and Berlin townships, were evidently connected with this one, and would be in view were the timber cleared away, a condition of things probably existing when the Mound Builders occu- pied the territory.

It is not unlikely that many other works of this mysterious people existed in this vicinity, but all have disappeared, except those mentioned. What could be expected to survive the ravages of a thou sand years or more? The wonder is that any trace of this people remain.

The next race to occupy the soil of this town- ship, so far as known, was the red Indian; a race almost as mysterious as the Mound Builders. They have no written history and even tradition is silent as to their origin. Several such races might have inhabited this territory and passed away, leav- ing no trace of existence, as the Indian will leave no permanent footprint behind when he is gone; and were it not for the little history of him pre- served by the white race, coming peoples, who may occupy this territory in the coming centuries, would

not know of his existence. This race was here, however, when the white race came to drive him out and subdue the wilderness. Probably many permanent Indian camps were located along Owl creek and its wild and pretty tributaries; but about the time of the first white occupation no permanent Indian camp existed within the limits of Wayne township. Temporary camps for hunting purposes existed along Owl creek, and occasionally an Indian hunter and his family occupied a lone wigwam in the depths of the forest, where he fished, hunted, and lounged away his life in happy ignorance-like the beasts of the field, of whom Joaquin Miller thus sings:

I have said it once and I say it over,

And can prove it over and over again, That the four-footed beasts on the red-crowned clover, The pied and horned beasts of the plain That lie down, rise up, and repose again, And do never take care, or toil, or spin,

Nor buy, nor build, nor gather in gold, Though the days go out and the tides come in, Are better than we by a thousand-fold.

It was probably within the limits of this township that the Indian horse-theives were killed, by Hughes and Ratliff from the Licking valley, in Licking county. They were overtaken and killed in the bottom, just south of Fredericktown-probably on the south branch of Owl creek. The facts are that in 1801, a party of Indians stole some horses from a little enclosure near the cabins of Elias Hughes and John Ratliff, who, in 1798, had located on the Bowling green about four miles below the present city of Newark, on Licking river. Hughes and Ratliff were the first settlers of Licking county, were related, the latter being a nephew of the former, and lived near each other with their fami- lies on a beautiful natural prairie. At the time the horses were stolen, a Mr. Bland, who lived further down, at the mouth of the Licking, was a visitor at Hughes' cabin, and his horse was among the number stolen. In the morning, finding the horses gone, these three men started in pursuit, following the trail of the savages, gaining rapidly upon them, and overtaking them on Owl creek, at the place mentioned. They came upon their camp at day- break in the morning, shot the Indians, recovered their horses, and returned unmolested to their cab- ins on the Licking. It is said that Bland and Rat-

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

liff relented when they saw they had the Indians in their power, and were in favor of taking the horses and letting the Indian thieves go; but Elias Hughes was not that kind of a man; he was an old Indian fighter and hater, and he expressed his views in such emphatic language that the others gave up to his way of thinking and the Indians were killed.

Elias Hughes was a well known pioneer of Lick- ing county, and died near Utica, Ohio, in Decem- ber, 1844, at the age of ninety years or thereabouts. His son, Jonathan, is yet living in Utica at an ad- vanced age.

The information comes from William Mefford, an old citizen of this township, that when he was clearing off the ground on which to erect his house, on Mile run, he plowed up the remains of the two Indians killed by these pioneers; also a rusty gun- barrel, brass guard, and other pieces of a gun, which had not decayed. This was in 1835, and these relics were placed in the hands of Jacob Mitchell. George Conkie gathered up the bones and reburied them, and the house was built on the spot. It is the old Peck place on Mile run bottom, where Mrs. Acre has since lived.

In early days there was a favorite camping ground about three-fourths of a mile from where these In- dians were killed. Large parties camped here for the purpose of hunting. They were the Delawares and Wyandots from the Sandusky plains, as well as the Greentown and Jerometown Indians, under Chiefs Armstrong and Captain Pipe, who were often seen in this vicinity.

Indians remained in this vicinity until the War of 1812, when they generally disappeared, never to return. The bear, deer and wolf rapidly followed the retreating savages, and upon their heels came the all-conquering white race.

The first settler in this township was the first per- manent settler within the present limits of Knox county. His name was Nathaniel Mitchell Young. Andrew Craig, who was in the territory embraced within the county limits several years before Mr. Young, can hardly be called a settler at all. He was not a permanent resident, he did not purchase or enter land; he was a sort of renegade, living among the Indians, and shortly after the whites be- gan a settlement he went away to Greentown, where a small tribe of Indians were encamped un-

der Chief Armstrong. It was within the present limits of Ashland county. Mr. Young may, there- fore, be called the first settler of Knox county. He was from New Jersey, and wandered up into the this wilderness in the spring of 1805. He was a hardy, adventurous fellow, and a sort of blacksmith. He probably came by way of Zanesville and New- ark, the latter place having been laid out the year before, after leaving which he found no further white settlers, until he reached the cabin of Craig on Owl creek. Why he continued on up Owl creek to the spot where he ever afterward lived, is not certainly known, but it is probable that he had a land warrant in his pocket, was hunting for, and found up here, the land it called for. It must be remembered that this belonged to the United States military lands, and was consequently first settled, either by Revolutionary soldiers or their heirs, with land warrants. The "axe maker," as the Indians soon named him, had probably one of these war- rants, and he located upon his land on the south branch of Owl creek in the western part of this township, five to six miles a little south of west of the present town of Fredericktown. From the fact that several of his kinsmen soon followed him and settled around him, this came to be known far and wide as the "Jersey settlement," and one of the most important settlements in the county.

Mr. Young erected a little log pen for a shelter, and as Indians visited him often, he soon began to employ his leisure time, between hunts, having a few tools with him, in repairing the knives, toma- hawks and guns of his red neighbors; hence the sobriquet of "axe maker," which for more than half a century afterward clung to him. He was soon followed by Jacob Young, Abraham and Simeon Lyon, and not long afterward by Eliphalet and John Lewis, and James Bryant-all from New Jersey.

In the winter of 1805-6 this settlement entered into a written agreement among themselves to give nine bushels of corn for each wolf scalp that might be taken; and during the winter some of them did a flourishing business catching wolves, three of them securing forty-one in steel traps and pens.

The early history of this settlement is similar to that of every other pioneer settlement. They erected cabins, chopped and cleared their farms,

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY ..

hunted the game in the forest and fished from the stream at their leisure; erected mills ; tried to build a town; lived to see such changes as they never dreamed of, and passed away; most, if not all are dead, but their descendants and others occupy the farms staked out by them in the wilderness. These lands are probably unexcelled for productiveness. James Bryant was followed by several others of the same name, who settled in the vicinity. James was a strict, steady man, with a "Sunday-go-to- meeting" face, and because his neighbors to the west of him did not walk as near to his way as he thought they should, he called the place Sodom, a name it has ever since borne.

Some years after Mr. Young settled here, Jabez and Daniel Beers, and Joseph Denman also joined the settlement.

In 1806 a party of Quakers came from Mary- land and settled on Owl creek, though the first who came, William Y. Farquhar, and his cousin, Henry Roberts, probably first settled within the present limits of Morris township. These were soon followed by William W. Farquhar and family, and in 1807 by Samuel Wilson and John Kerr, all Quakers, the two latter making, probably, the sec- ond settlement within the limits of this township, upon the site of Fredericktown. These good peo- ple, by their sobriety, industry, and honesty, placed some of the best material in the foundation of the present structure of society in this township. They composed the first settlement of Friends in this part of the country. Amariah Watson was also a settler in this township, near the site of Frederick- town, in 1806. His place was subsequently sold to Jacob Ebersole.

The next settlement made in this township, as before stated, was in 1807, on the site of Freder- icktown, by Kerr and Wilson. The former began immediately the erection of a grist-mill upon the site of a mill yet standing near Fredericktown; he also laid out Fredericktown on the first quarter, seventh township, fourteenth range, United States military district, which, on the eleventh of Novem- ber, 1807, he acknowledged in the presence of George Chambers, before William W. Farquhar. The history of this settlement will be followed up in the next chapter, on Fredericktown.

At the October election of 1808, the first regu-

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History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 104

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co. Number of Pages: 1096

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co.
Number of Pages: 1096