History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 90

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 90

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The Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Columbus rail- road passes diagonally across the township, the di- rection being northeast to southwest.

There is one small mound in the southern part of the township, situated on the farm of Worthing- ton Shipley.

There was a permanent Indian encampment in this township, at the mouth of Indian Field's run. The Indians had cleared quite a large tract of land at this place, and raised large crops of corn and vegetables. Game was plenty, the Owl and Jel- loway creeks abounded in fish, and altogether it was a very desirable camping place for the red man. There were also temporary encampments in various places in this part of the county, especially along Owl creek and the Jelloway streams, where bands of Indians from Greentown, Upper Sandus-

ky, and other places, would encamp during the hunting season.

There was a somewhat noted Indian named Tom Jelloway, in whose honor the Big and Little Jello- way creeks were named, who remained in this section of the county several years after the removal of his tribe to their western reservations. He became very much attached to the whites, adopted their dress, and, in a measure, their style of living, and refused to go when the Government removed the Indians in this part of Ohio to the west. He obtained his living principally by selling brooches, and other trinkets of Indian manufacture. He fre- quently visited at the Critchfields, Welkers, and other pioneer families in order to dispose of his wares.

Howard township was one of the best hunting grounds that could be found in the State at its set- tlement. The Critchfields, Welkers, and other pio- neers were very successful hunters. A few years after Nathaniel Critchfield removed to this town- ship, he one evening heard a hog squealing in the thicket near his residence. He seized his gun and started for the place from which the noise of the unhappy porker proceeded. Mr. Critchfield was soon near the bear, which had the hog still living in his embrace. He discharged the contents of his gun into old bruin, who, not appearing to feel any effects from the first shot, still continued holding the hog in his paws. He fired another shot which did not prove fatal, and reloading his gun he fired the third load into the bear before he succeeded in killing him. The bear weighed four hundred pounds, and his carcass yielded ten gallons of oil. On another occasion, Benjamin Critchfield and his brother Isaac were out hunting wild turkeys. They heard the cry of a panther, which was in the top of a tree a short distance from where they were standing. They each dreaded to fire the first shot, but was finally agreed that Isaac should shoot first, as he was an excellent marksman, and rarely missed a shot. He deliberately, but not with- out some trepidation, aimed his gun at the panther and fired. The ball penetrated the animal's brain and he fell from the tree dead. He was of enormous size, measuring eleven feet from tip to tip. This is said to be the only panther ever killed in Knox county by a white man.

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

Abraham Welker was probably the first white man to settle in Howard township. He came from Harrison county, Ohio, about 1806 or 1807, and located his farm on the Indian fields, near the mouth of the stream .by that name. This land had been cleared by the Indians and had been under cultivation for generations probably. He was thus saved the labor of clearing his land of the heavy forests, which was no inconsiderable item of labor and cost in those early days. At the time of Mr. Welker's removal to Howard township there were but a very small number of whites residing in the eastern part of Knox county. There were three or four families along Owl creek, in Butler township, and scattering ones elsewhere in the adjoining townships. Indians were encamped near his cabin. His younger children were unused to seeing whites, and his daughter, Mrs. Critchfield, now living in this township, says that that the children were much more alarmed at seeing a white man than they were at seeing an Indian. Mr. Welker died about 1820.

Paul Welker was another of the very first set- tlers, coming here about the same time that Abra- ham Welker did. He settled in the southern part of the township. He often related the following anecdote :

Some time after his removal to Howard town- ship he was out hunting deer. He was not aware of any white man living nearer than the settlements on Owl creek in Butler township, and that of Ab- raham Welkers. He had chased a deer into a swamp when he was startled by the sound of an axe, in the hands of some one cutting wood. Not deeming it probable that any white man would settle in such a spot, he stealthily approached the place from whence the noise of the chopping came, expecting to see an Indian, but to his great and agreeable surprise he discovered a white man cut- ting logs for his cabin. This man was Simon Dudgeon, one of the pioneers and honored citi- zens of Harrison township. Although Welker ex- pressed much surprise and made considerable sport at Mr. Dudgeon's selecting such a marshy location for a home, it proved to be a wise one, as Dudgeon became quite wealthy before his death.

Among the first settlers and prominent families

were the Critchfields. They are very numer- ous in this township especially and in other por- tions of Knox county. Nathaniel, Isaac, John, Joseph and William, five brothers, emigrated from Maryland to this township about 1807 or 1808. Several of these brothers had been soldiers in the war of the Revolution, and had been inured to dangers and hardships while engaged in that strug- gle. They were well fitted to endure the toils and privations necessary in the settlement of a new and heavily timbered country. From these old pioneers have sprung the numerous families and individuals of that name in Howard and other townships of Knox county. Their descendants can be numbered almost by the hundreds. The pioneer Critchfields were athletic, industrious farmers and public-spirited citizens, and for many years after the first settlement of Howard town- ship held a large share of the local offices. After Joseph Critchfield came to this township he built a cabin, cleared up a piece of land, and raised a crop or two of corn. He then went to Somerset county, Pennsylvania, where he was married. Pro- curing two horses, one for himself and one for his wife, he packed a few articles of furniture and utensils for cooking on the horses and they started for their new home in Ohio, making the entire trip on horseback, most of the way being through a dense forest. Nathaniel Critchfield was married to Miss Christina Welker at an early age. They raised a family of thirteen children. He held several township offices, and was an active Demo- cratic politician. He died about 1837. Isaac died a short time after his removal to the county. Benjamin Critchfield came from Bedford county, Pennsylvania, where he was born May 18, 1797. He was also one of the earliest settlers, coming to Howard about 1808.

Isaac Dial, Uriah and Marvin Tracy, James Logue, James Wade, Benjamin Ellis, Philip Dial, George Lybarger, Jesse Enlon, John Stedman and Andrew Lybarger were early settlers. Of the later settlers were John Hull who came in 1830, Henry Eckenrode in 1833, George McFarland in 1835, John Durbin, Thomas McElroy, John Cassill, Martin Engel, Amos Workman, H. H. McArtor, Daniel McGugin and James Berry. As in the case in the other townships of eastern Knox, these

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

settlers were principally emigrants from Pennsyl- vania, Maryland and Virginia. The absence of the foreign and New England element in the popula- tion of the eastern and southern townships is a notable feature.

For many years after the first settlement, the dis- tilling of whiskey was a common business. At one time there were six of eight distilleries in full blast in Howard township. One of the old distilleries, owned by a Mr. Hawn, is still standing near Mill- wood, and is now used for a barn. Some of the whiskey manufactured here was consumed at home, as whiskey wasa common beverage among all classes at that date, even the minister of the Gospel drank it. The remainder of the whiskey was hauled to Mt. Vernon and Newark and shipped from those places to various points. The distilling business was considered as respectable as any legitimate business. After the Washingtonian Temperance association was formed, and spread all over the land a great change of opinion occurred in the pub- lic mind, and the owners of these distilleries quit the business, and some of them became radical temperance advocates.

The first bridge in the township was built across Jelloway creek in 1830. The first grist-mill was built about 1815 by Nathaniel Critchfield. It was situated on the Little Jelloway creek. There is but one grist-mill in the township at this date, which is owned and operated by Rollin Critchfield. One of the first dwelling houses built in Howard township is still standing about three-fourths of a mile north of the village of Howard. It is a log building, and was built by Benjamin Critchfield about 1810.

Steven Workman was the first man to bring a threshing machine into the township. This was about 1838-9.

The first brick house was erected by Benjamin Critchfield. Good and substantial brick and frame houses, have generally taken the place of the rude cabins of the early times, although a log house, lately erected, is occasionally seen, in this, as well as in all the townships in the eastern and southern portions of Knox county.

There are several iron and wooden bridges, which span the Big and Little Jelloway, Owl creek and other streams in this township placed at conve-

nient distances, and which add much to the accom- . modation of the citizens and travellers. Although Howard has superior water privileges, and much valuable timber still standing, there are no manu- factories but one grist-mill, and but a small number of portable saw-mills in the township. Since the completion of the Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Co- lumbus railroad through here, much of the oak timber has been made into staves and shipped to various points east and west, thus adding materially to the income of the farmers.

The first school-house in Howard township was a small log building, after the pattern of all primi- tive school-houses so often described in other chapters of this history. It was built on Joseph Critchfield's farm. The early school teachers were Joseph Dunlap, Nathan Heddington, William Wil- liams, Mr. McDermott and Jacob Lyons. There had probably been school taught in the cabins of the pioneers, before the erection of this school-house. Among the scholars who attended the first schools taught in Howard, were Lewis, Lydia and Hannah Critchfield. The location of Kenyon college at. Gambier was a great advantage and blessing to the youth of this township. Being in the immediate vicinity, many of the young men of Howard availed themselves of the privilege to secure a collegiate education.

The Methodists were the religious pioneers of the township. At a very early day Rev James B. Finley and Rev. Anthony Banning and Absalom Waddle, Methodist ministers of considerable ce- lebrity, occasionally preached to the pioneers. Rev. James B. Finley was one of the most energetic and useful of the preachers of that denomination · in his day. He preached at many places in Ohio, was stationed for some time at Detroit, Michigan, and also had ministerial supervision of an Indian mission at Upper Sandusky, Ohio. This mission church of the Wyandots was mainly established by his instrumentality. He succeeded in causing the Government to appropriate money for this pur- pose.

Rev. Anthony Banning was one of the pioneer preachers of Knox county. He was not only an active worker in the cause of Christ but was exten- sively engaged in commercial operations and busı· ness pursuits, was an ardent advocate of the tem-

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

perance cause, a zealous Whig politician, and was president of the first meeting held in this county. in the interests of Henry Clay for President. He began to preach at the age of sixteen years in Virginia in the wild and mountainous portions of that State. He thus early imbibed that energetic spirit and resolute determination which are the al- most universal characteristics of all the inhabitants of mountainous districts.

Rev. Waddle was a minister of much energy and usefulness. The first church in Howard town- ship was built by the Methodists in 1830. It was located on the farm of Philip Brown two and one- half miles east of Gambier. The farm on which it was built is now owned by Lewis Britton. Joseph and Philip Brown were the prime movers in the or- ganization of this church. They came from near Hagerstown, Maryland, and were very zealous Methodists. Among the early members of the so- ciety were Isaac Critchfield, the Browns, and Peg- gy Miller; and such eminent ministers as Adam Poe, Russell Bigelow, and John H. Powers pro- claimed the gospel of salvation to this church in its early history. Rev. Shafer, who was a great singer, and revivalist, was another of the early pas- tors. There was a graveyard attached to this church and quite a number of bodies interred therein. In the course time it became expedient to build a new and better church, and instead of placing it near the old one it was decided that it should be located at a more eligible point, a inile south of Monroe Mills, in Monroe township. The old log church and graveyard have disappeared and hardly a vestige of either remains to mark their former lo- cation.

The Jelloway church of the Disciples of Christ was organized in 1836 by Elders John Dawson and John McElroy. It is located near the Little Jol- loway creek in the western part of this township. There were thirteen members at the time of organ- ization, as follows: John McElroy and wife, George McFarland and wife, John Dawson and wife, Mrs. Nancy Cassill and her daughter, Nancy, Mrs. Ann Graham, Nancy McFarland, Louisa Dawson, Mary Dawson, and John Dawson, jr. The first officers were John McElroy, and John Dawson, elders; George McFarland, deacon. But four of the origi- nal members are now living. The first church was

built about 1839. The society worshipped in this edi- fice until 1871 when a new and more substantial building was erected. Elders Sanders, James Port- er, Charles E. Van Voorhes, O. W. Keyle, and - Rowe, have been pastors of the church. There is no pastor at this time. The Jelloway church has enjoyed a large measure of prosperity since its or- ganization, but on account of the removal and death of many of its members it is not as numer- ically strong as at other times in its past history. There are nearly one hundred members at this date. A cemetery is attached to the church which was laid out about the time of its organization. The pres- ent officers are Robert Cassill, Smith Drake, and William Welsh, elders; James Dawson, Simon Spindler, and Lyman Barker, deacons. The Dis- ciples of Christ is the leading denomination in Howard township. There are a large number of its citizens connected with the Millwood church in Union township in addition to those belonging to the Jelloway church, There is a lack of church edifices here, there being but two structures in the township.

Howard, formerly Kinderhook, is the only vil- lage in Howard township. The original name was changed at the time of the completion of the Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Columbus railroad through the village. It is situated in the southern part of the township, on the west side of Jelloway creek, and near Owl creek. The village did not amount to much until after the completion of the railroad, when it commenced to improve, and it has gradually increased in population since. Henry Warden built the first house in Kinderhook, at the time of its laying out, about 1836. He also kept the first store in the village. Ross Arbuckle was the first hotel keeper, and James Cassill the first tailor in Kinderhook. William Welker was the first shoemaker. Lafayette Emmett taught the first school. The village has a population of about one hundred and fifty at this time. There are two dry goods stores kept by William Ralston, and In- sell & Critchfield; one hotel by John McNabb; one harness shop by Ed. Beerbower; two black- smith shops by James Panorwood, and James Launtz; one restaurant by Thomas Blake; two wagon shops by C. Holbrook, and Thomas Wal" lace; one cooper shop by Michael Cox; one boot

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

and shoe maker, Samuel McGill; one livery and feed stable by John McNabb; one grain warehouse owned by Insell & Critchfield; two physicians, Frank Humbert and N. Hull. A fine iron bridge spans the big Jelloway creek at this place. A flour- ishing district school is sustained by the inhabitants.

The Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Howard was organized in 1863. The first board of trustees were : Benjamin M. Morrison, president; A. B. Cummings, secretary; L. D. Whitford, Francis Long, S. M. Vincent, J. S. Til- ton. It remained a mutual company until 1868, when it was reorganized as a stock company, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars. M. Critchfield was the first president, and Eli Pealer, the first secretary after the reorganization. The company recently closed up its business for want of proper support.

There is but one church in the village, the Free Methodist church of Howard, which was organized in 1873, and is the only church of that denomina- tion in the county. The first society of Free Methodists in this county was on Brush run in Butler townhship. In February, 1872, they held a series of meetings in that locality, and formed a class of seven members. Rev. B. R. Jones, of the Mansfield charge, preached the first Methodist sermon in the county, and had charge of this society during its first year. This society was soon after disbanded, and absorbed by the Howard organization. In August, 1875, they held a camp meeting in Moses Smith's grove near mills, and also another one in June, 1876, both of which meetings were attended by thousands. During the summer of 1877, they erected a church edifice at . the village of Howard, B. F. Shipley, Kinsey Hartsman, now preaching in Michigan, and E. C. Shipley being the first trustees. Among some of the original members were Eugene, Benjamin, Emeline, Lizzie and Mrs. Mary Shipley, Sarah and Jane Waddle, and William Parmenter. Among the pastors of the Howard church have been: Reverends - Burton, -- Jones, --- Frink, Ellsworth, -- Leonardson, Nelson Woods and Jasper Hayden, the present one. 'The present officers are: Silas Workman, James Waddle and Benjamin Shipley, trustees; Mary Shipley and Silas Workman, stewards. Present membership

eleven. The Free Methodists are bitterly opposed to the fashionable tendencies of the age, and pro- hibit the wearing of jewelry and ornaments by the members. They are also opposed to all secret societies. Their government is strictly democratic, the members having an equal voice with the minis- ters in all the councils of the church .. Both the annual and general conferences are composed of an an equal number of laymen and ministers. In- stead of presiding elders, they have chairman of districts, who generally have circuits as well as those they appoint.

CHAPTER LIII.

HILLIAR TOWNSHIP.

LOCATION - ERECTION - NAME - TOPOGRAPHY - SETTLE- MENT-PIONEER ANECDOTES-JAMES HOUCK-DR. HIL- LIAR-EARLY FARMING-FIRST ELECTION -TOWNSHIP OFFICERS-MILLS-CHURCHES-SCHOOLS-ROADS-VIL- LAGES-NEWSPAPERS-POSTMASTERS-STATISTICS.

TJILLIAR township is situated in the extreme southwest corner of the county, and was erected from territory formerly a part of Miller township, as appears by reference to the journal of the county commissioners. The entry is made August 28, 1818, and reads as follows:

On the petition of sundry inhabitants of Knox county praying for a new township to be laid out-Ordered-That the follow- ing boundaries be, and are hereby laid out into a separate town- ship as follows :

Beginning at the southwest corner of said county and running east on the line between the counties of Knox and Licking, seven and a half miles ; thence north five miles, to the line dividing the fifth and sixth townships; thence west, seven miles and a half, to the west boundary of Knox county ; thence south, five miles to the place of beginning ; which shall be known and called by the name of Hilliar township.

On the ninth of March, 1825, the boundaries of Hilliar township were changed as follows:

The township of Hilliar shall be composed of the fifth town- ship in the fifteenth range.

The township thus constituted contained sixteen thousand acres, and was divided into four equal parts, owned by different individuals and named respectively the "Rathbone," "Dayton," "Hilliar" and "Parker" sections. The Hilliar section was

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

the first to come into market, and that upon which the first settlement was made; hence the new town- ship was named in honor of Dr. Richard Hilliar, one of the original proprietors.

The physical features of Hilliar township are not characterized by great diversity. The surface is nearly level, or gently rolling. The water courses have sufficient descent to afford good drainage, but do not fall rapidly enough to present any attrac- tions to the millwright; although the early mills were necessarily water mills. The north fork of Licking creek traverses the township from north- west to southeast, passing near the village of Cen- treburgh.

Dry creek drains the northeast corner of the township, and several other smaller streams, the southwestern portion, furnishing sufficient living water for stock and other purposes.

Geologically considered, the soil of Hilliar town- ship is composed of the debris of the olive shales of the Waverly, intermingled with glacial drift, strongly impregnated with lime, and generally covered with a rich alluvial deposit. When cultivated it yields ample returns for the labor of the husbandman, but the principal energies of the farmers appear to be expended in raising sheep, as appended statistics show.

The land was originally heavily timbered with black walnut and sugar maple; the former being mostly destroyed before its value was appreciated. The timber remaining is principally of the follow- ing varieties: Ash, white oak, beech, hickory, elm, walnut and maple.

Large quantities of white ash and beech are be- ing shipped away on the railroads at the present time, for which a good price is obtained.

No minerals have been discovered in this locality.

As Knox county lies almost entirely outside the great Appalachian coal fields, coal must be brought from other points, and costs the consumer at this point about four dollars and a half per ton.

That mysterious people, the Mound Builders, have left behind them in this locality but few remains. Two small mounds on the property of Edward Rob- erts and one on Mrs. Thurston's property are all that appear in the township.

The settlement of Hilliar township dates from 1806. Dr. Richard Hilliar, a native of England,

came to Zanesville, Muskingum county, Ohio, in 1805, and being a man of enterprise bought of William Stanbery, of Newark, Licking county, Ohio, eighteen hundred acres of military land, situated in Knox county. In 1806 he repaired to his new purchase and built a cabin in the south- west corner of what is now Hilliar township, mov- ing his family into it. After Dr. Hilliar, came Joseph Jennings, Jacob Houck, James Houck, Joseph Kerr, and George Hinton, with their families, located near Hilliar on land purchased from him. William Russell, William Reynolds, John Borden, and Elijah Dowell came soon after, and the woods began to resound with the sturdy strokes of the hardy pioneers.

At first the Indians were not very troublesome, but as the difficulties increased-which culminated in the War of 1812-they became a constant source of dread to the settlers, who never ventured to step outside their cabin doors without their trusty rifles in hands; no actual outbreak occurred, however, and after the war the red men

"Folded their tents like the Arabs, And as silently stole away,"

leaving the pale-faces in undisturbed possession of the hunting grounds of their fathers.

The pioneers were generally equal to the diffi- culties that surrounded them. The Hilliar settle- ment seems to have been no exception to the rule. A few anecdotes will serve to illustrate the temper of the settlers. Being destitute of mills, and roads to get to those built elsewhere in the county, they petitioned the county commissioners for a road to Shrimplin's mill on Owl creek, east of Mt. Vernon. It was surveyed and reported on, but the commis- sioners refused to confirm it on account of the cost of constructing a road such a distance through the woods. Nothing daunted they went to work themselves and cut a road from Houck's to the settlement near Mt. Vernon. Previous to this time they had gone to Zanesville, in Muskingum county, to get grinding done.

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History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 90

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