History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 95

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 95

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Mount Liberty Lodge, No. 41, of the Knights of Honor was organized at Shaffers' hotel in Mount Liberty, December 17, 1874, by Deputy Supreme Dictator, S. D. Thompson of Mount Vernon, Ohio.

The charter members were: J. W. Williams, C. J. Updike, F. Snyder, D. Wilson, C. R. Bradfield, W. G. Bradfield, G. J. Collins, S. Jaggers, J. W. Jackson, John Thompson, P. Shaffer, A. P. Robertson, E. Sharpnack, J. W. Moffit.

Original officers: J. W. Williams, P. D .; C. J. Updike, F. Snyder, V. D .; W. G. Bradfield, A. D .; E. Sharpnack, guide; J. W. Moffit, Rep .; J. P. Robertson, F. R .; J. W. Jackson, Tr. G. J. Collins, sentinel.

This society meets in their own hall on each alternate Tuesday evening. . The present number of members is thirty, and the present officers as follows: J. W. Robertson, D .; H. W. Mostellar, V. D .; Jonathan Tucker, A. D .; H. R. Bostwick, reporter; B. F. Morris, F. R .; J. W. Jackson, Tr .; H. H. Robertson, G .; C. R. Bradfield, Chap; Wil- liam Austin, guard; F. S. Rowley, sentinel.

Liberty township is a good agricultural district.

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

The first threshing-machine was introduced by Leonard Weaver, and the first mower by Amos Leech. The following statistics may be found useful. :

Population in 1880, 1,036: total number of acres in the township, 16,072; number of acres under cultivation, 4,496 ; number of acres in pasture, 9,- 510; acres in wheat, 1,096; bushels of wheat, 14,- 239; acres of oats, 586; bushels of oats, 14.442; acres in corn, 1,854; bushels of corn, 46,344; acres in meadow, 1,510; tons of hay, 937; acres in potatoes, 69 ; bushels of potatoes, 5,032 ; pounds of wool, 22,864; pounds of butter, 31,251.

Number of horses in the township, 385 ; assessed value of the same, $18,258; number of cattle, 991, assessed value of the same, $14,516; number of sheep, 6776; assessed value of same, $12,829; number of hogs, 1,032; assessed value of same, $2,533; moneys and credits, $67,923; total value of all taxable personal property, $189,538.

CHAPTER LVII.

MIDDLEBURY TOWNSHIP.

FORMATION-BOUNDARIES-TOPOGRAPHY-FIRST SETTLERS -"FRIENDS"-DANIEL LEVERING-TRUMAN STRONG- BATEMANS-SARAH STELLWELL-LATER SETTLERS OF PROMINENCE-ROADS-MILLS-ELECTIONS-JUSTICES- PRESENT OFFICERS-WATERFORD-"LEVERING'S" POST- OFFICE-"FRIENDS" MEETING-HOUSE-OTHER CHURCHES -ODD FELLOWS-SCHOOLS-NOTED MEN -- POPULATION -PRODUCTION.

M IDDLEBURY township was erected by act of the commissioners, December 3, 1823, as the following extract from their journal shows:

Ordered, That the following bounds be laid off into a separ- ate township, to wit : "Beginning at the southeast corner of the eighth township, in the fourteenth range, and running west on said township line to the southwest corner of said township; thence north on the line between the fourteenth and fifteenth ranges to the boundary line; thence westerly on said boundary line to where the nearest north and south line in the new pur- chase strikes said boundary line; thence north on said north and south line to the north boundary of Knox county; thence east on the county line to where the west boundary line of Berlin township strikes said county line; thence south on the west boundary of said Berlin township to the place of begin- ning; which shall henceforth be entitled to all the privileges of a

separate and distinct township, in the county of Knox, and be known and distinguished as Middlebury township."

An election was ordered to be held at the house of Luther Bateman on the first Monday in April, 1824, for the purpose of electing township officers.

Again, on the ninth day of March, 1825, the county commissioners had Middlebury township under consideration, and enacted as follows:

Middlebury township shall be composed of the following bounds, to wit: "Beginning at the northwest corner of the seventh township in the fourteenth range; thence north on the range line to the Indian boundary line; thence southwesterly to Franklin township; thence north on the east boundary of Frank- lin to the county line; thence east to the line between the fifth and sixth sections in Knox county; thence south on said line to the old Indian boundary line; thence northeasterly on said line to where the range line between the thirteenth and fourteenth ranges strikes said boundary; thence south on said boundary to the northwest corner of township seven, in range thirteen; thence west on the township line to the place of beginning."

The township thus constituted is situated in the northwest corner of the county. and is composed of twelve and one-half square miles of territory, south of the Greenville treaty line, in the United States Military district, and seven and one-half square miles of territory, north of said treaty line, the latter being Congress land.

The surface of the country is gently rolling and well adapted to farming purposes. The soil is good, being composed of the debris of the olive shales mixed with glacial drift, and sufficiently im- pregnated with lime to render it very productive. Owl creek traverses the township from northwest to southwest, affording ample drainage and con- siderable water-power which the early settlers did not fail to improve.

The first permanent settlers of Middlebury town- ship were Friends, from Frederick county, Mary- land. In the fall of 1806 William W. Farquhar arrived in Knox county, and stopped temporarily with Henry Roberts in Morris township, but shortly thereafter in company with other Friends located at Fredericktown in Wayne township. Here he remained till 1808, when he moved to Middlebury and settled on the William Burkholder place, two miles north of Fredericktown, where he died. Mr. Farquhar was quite a prominent man. On the fourteenth of February, 1808, the general assembly of Ohio chose the first associate judges of Knox county, and William W. Farquhar was selected as

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

one of them. He discharged the duties of that office with faithfulness and ability till December 12, 1813, when he resigned. The first jury case ever tried in the supreme court for Knox county, was that of William W. Farquhar vs. James Craig, in which a verdict was rendered in favor of the plaintiff for one hundred and three dollars and sixty cents. Mr. Farquhar was a stockholder in the Owl Creek bank, owning fifteen shares in that institu- tion. In the year 1818 he was elected to the legislature from Knox county. Basil Farquhar, at an advanced age, still resides in Middlebury township.

Samuel Wilson, another Friend from Frederick county, Maryland, came about the same time as Farquhar and located in the Quaker settlement. His name appears on the poll book of the first election held in Wayne township, October 11, 1808, and in 1812 he was one of the judges of election in the same township. Mr. Wilson was a zealous member of the Friends society of Owl creek, and ran off an acre of land from the southeast corner of his farm which he donated to that society on which to erect a meeting-house. His son Joseph for a time occupied the old homestead, but it finally passed into the hands of strangers.

Thomas Townsend located on the A. M. Town- send property, one and one-half miles north of Fred- ericktown in 1808. He was one of the Friends from Maryland, and true to his Quaker principles, kept a station on "the underground railroad." It is related of him that he would harbor as many as twenty fugitive slaves at a time, and when they were sufficiently recruited, set their faces toward the north star, and send them on their way rejoic- ing. Mr. Townsend died March 18, 1859, aged seventy-eight. He has no representative now in the township.

Samuel Willett was another of the Quaker frater- nity who located on section twenty-one, north of Fredericktown in 1808.

Robert Wright and Jesse Vore were also early settlers of the same persuasion.

The names of John and Jacob Cook appear on the poll book of the first election held in Wayne township, at the time it included Middlebury. They came from Washington county, Pennsylvania, and after sojourning for a time in Fredericktown,

located in the southeast corner of Middlebury township in 1809. John Cook reared a family of ten children. His daughter, Armanella, married Noah Levering, and reared a family of ten chil- dren-seven of whom are still living. She died June 13, 1879, in the seventy-first year of her age, and was buried in Levering graveyard, near Water- ford.

Richard Hall was also an early settler. His vote is recorded October 11, 1808. He lived on his farm, south of the present residence of N. M. Strong, where he died and was buried.

Thomas Finch and John Mitchell were early settlers at Waterford. Mitchell's location is not definitely known, but Finch located on the property now owned and occupied by William Penn, ad- joining the town plat of Waterford.

Daniel Levering came to Knox county from Bed- ford county, Pennsylvania, prior to the War of 1812, purchased some land of John Mitchell, near Water- ford, and entered some other tracts. In the spring of 1813 he moved his family to his new home, and during the summer, with the assistance of a few others, built a block-house on his farm as a protec- tion against the Indians. Mr. Levering was quite an ingenious man. He opened the first black- smith shop in the township and built the first grist- mill-a history of which is given elsewhere. He reared a large family, provided each with a home, and "left his foot-prints on the sands of time." He died December 31, 1820, aged fifty-six years and eleven months. His wife, Mary, died October 24, 1846, in her eighty-fifth year. Of his children, Grace, the oldest, married William Rambo, and died at Rich Hill, Knox county, January 8, 1853, aged sixty-four; Henry married Dinah Cook, the first marriage in the township; Charles went to Iowa, where he died; Nathan died December 20, 1872, aged seventy-seven years, and was buried at the old homestead; John was a prominent business man at Waterford for many years, and died March 13, 1871, in the seventy-fourth year of his age; Noah was one of the proprietors of the town of Waterford, an enterprising business man, and died March 4, 1881, in the seventy-ninth year of his age, and was buried in a reserved lot of the grave- yard he had donated to the public; Joseph died May 26, 1871, in the sixty-eighth year of his age;

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

and William died September 4, :564, aged eighty- four years.

Truman Strong was born March 7, 1790, at Poultney, Vermont, married Polly Ashley, March 21, 1811, came to Knox county in 1812, and lo- cated on lot eleven in the southwest quarter of Middlebury township. He was a minister in the Universalist church, travelled extensively and preached wherever he went. He also figured as a fourth of July orator, as the following extract from a published account of a celebration "by a respect- able number of citizens of Wayne township," in 1816, shows: "The Declaration of Independence was read by Jabez Beers, and a patriotic and very animated oration delivered by Truman Strong." He reared a family of five children, Harvey A., Truman C., Eliza P., Franklin P. and Norman Murray Strong. The latter is the only one now living in the township.

Zebulon Ashley was born in Poultney, Vermont, married Thankful Pond, September 25, 1770, and moved to Middlebury township, Knox county, Ohio, in the fall of 1812. He located on lot twenty-two, and reared a family of six children, none of whom are now living in the township. Mr. Ashley died March 4, 1835, and was buried in the cemetery, the ground for which had been do- nated to the public by him.

Munson Pond was born in Stockbridge, Berk- shire county, Massachusetts, September 18, 1772, married Anna Allen, June 17, 1796, at Middle- bury, Vermont. She died in April, 1799, when he married Ruth Bateman in 1800, and came to Mid- dlebury township in the early part of 1815. He settled on lot six, now known as the Elizabeth Ladd farm, and essayed to open up a farm. On this tract grew a sycamore tree twelve feet in diam- eter. This tree being hollow was cut down, a fourth of July celebration held in a section of it, and then turned into a bedroom. Mr. Pond remained here until 1830 when he removed to Huron county, Ohio.

Luther and Alvin Bateman came from Vermont about 1815, and settled in the vicinity of Bateman- town. They tried hard to emulate the example of Romulus and Remus, but the fates seemed to be against them. Batemantown as an embryo city was not a success. Luther Bateman died July 2,

1852, in his sixty-fourth year, and Alvin died Octo- ber 18, 1856, aged six:, -three.

John Ackerman settled in the northwest cornel of Middlebury township in 1813. His sons, Stephen, Morgan, Leander and Harvey, are still residents of the township.

Jonathan, David, Richard and Robert Ewers, emigrated from Loudoun county, Virginia, and lo- cated in the eastern part of the township. They all raised large families, so that the name has be- come quite common in the neighborhood. Jacob Young had a saw-mill and corn cracker on the south fork of Owl creek in 1813, and was elected associate judge in 1813, to fill the vacancy occa- sioned by the resignation of Hon. W. Farquhar.

William and Basil Murphy found a home one mile north of Batemantown in 1815, and in 1816 commenced the tanning business, which they car- ried on until 1863. Basil Murphy still resides near the old homestead, and William lives in Frederick- town. Sarah Murphy, the mother of Basil, and at whose house the first Methodist class-meeting was held, died January 9, 1854, in the seventy-ninth year of her age, and was buried in Levering's graveyard.

Obadiah Stillwell was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, March 27, 1776. Sarah Warford was born at the same place March 7, 1782. They were married March 6, 1804, and came to Knox county, Ohio, in October, 1817. Mr. Stillwell made his home on the northeast quarter of section nine, in the western part of Middlebury township. Here he reared a family of six children, Joseph W., Charlotte, Rachel, Arthur and Josiah M. Joseph moved to Morrow county, but returned and is now living in Waterford. Charlotte and Rachel are dead. Jackson moved to Illinois and Arthur to

Iowa. Josiah lives on a part of the old farm, while the old homestead itself is occupied by the widow, Sarah Stillwell, now in her one hundredth year, and from whom the above facts were obtained.

Warren Owen came to the township in 1817, and William Watkins in 1819. The Johnsons, Denmans, Stevenses, Walterzes, Ebersoles, Gra- hams, Zolmans, Comforts, Fiddlers, Cravens, Eaveses, McPhersons and Martins were also early settlers of more or less prominence.

These were the men who felled the forests,

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

cleared the ground, erected the log cabins and made civilization possible. As education was an essential element in the development of the race, a school was taught in one of the log houses by Dan- iel Levering in 1814; he also taught the first sing- ing school. The first brick house in the township was built on the J. B. Blackburn place by Darius Strong.

A road from Fredericktown by way of Cook's and Wilson's to Mansfield, was petitioned for June 5, 1809, by William Y. Farquhar, Joseph Moore, Am- ariah Watson, William W. Farquhar, Samuel Wat- son Daniel Ayers, Alexander Avery, Peter Wolf, James Ayers, Samuel Wilson, John Kerr, William Smith, Willis Speakman, John Cook, Thomas Townsend, Jacob Casper Fitting, Jeremiah Brown, Enoch Farquhar, William Mitchell, N. M. Young, E. N. Taylor, Daniel Johnson, Thomas Clark, jr., Amos Hartley and John Click.

Casper Fitting, James Bryant and Henry Roberts were appointed to view the same, and Jacob Young surveyor. These parties made their return July I, 1809, and the road was confirmed by the county commissioners, September 5, 1809.

"Pond's road " was laid out from Fredericktown to Munson Pond's; thence to Luther Bateman's; thence to Daniel Levering's blacksmith shop, on a petition of Munson Pond, Luther Bateman, Henry Levering, Charles Levering, Augustus Strong, Zeb- ulon Ashley, Abel Pond, Abel Convers, Abner Ayers, G. B. Mansfield, John Williams, David Graham, Alfred Manning, Robert Buchanan and Thomas Nevins. The viewers appointed by the county commissioners were William W. Farquhar, John Lewis and Henry Markley; Darius Strong was appointed surveyor.

A remonstrance having been presented to the commissioners, a review was ordered and returned December 3, 1817. It was confirmed as a county road in June, 1818, and made a State road in 1826.

The first saw- and grist-mill in Middlebury township was built by Daniel Levering at Water- ford about 1815. He first erected a saw-mill, and shortly after put up a grist-mill with two run of buhrs, which he operated until his death in 1820, when the mill came into possession of his son, John Levering. He sold to Alfred Walters, and he to J. C. Stump, who rebuilt the mills in 1860 and

christened them "Owl Creek Mills." Joel Starmer was the proprietor who ran the same about seven years, when he traded the property to Dawson & Badger, and in 1875 Newton McCluckion bought Badger's interest. In February, 1876, Dawson sold out to J. Williams, when McCluckion purchased Williams' interest, and is at the present time sole proprietor. The mills are situated in the centre of a productive country and do a good business.

There was a saw-mill, fulling-mill and carding machine at Batemantown in 1824, but it was a short-lived institution.

Craft's mill was originally a saw-mill, and in 1840 James Blair erected a grist-mill on the site, which he operated about fifteen years, and then sold to Washington Ewers. Elias Craft bought out Ewers in 1865, and put in an extra pair of buhrs. The mill is now owned and operated by W. H. & A. L. Craft. It is situated on Owl creek on the northwest quarter of section twenty-two.

Abner Trowbridge built a saw-mill on lot 26, on the west fork of Owl creek in 1830. In 1845 he sold to J. N. Gorden, and he to Gilbert Owens in 1855. After passing through several hands it be- came the property of J. L. Nicodemus, who still owns it.

About 1850 William Watkins built a saw-mill one-fourth of a mile above Nicodemus', which ran five or six years and then ceased operations.

William Rambo, in 1845, built a saw-mill on Owl creek about the centre of section four, which he ran four or five years. After his death in 1853 it came into the possession of David Shaler, who operated it until 1875, when it fell into disuse.

In 1850 R. D. Ketchum had a store in Bate- mantown, which he kept four or five years, when he failed in business, and abandoned the enterprise.

A man named Hall tried the hotel business in Batemantown but met with no better success; in fact Batemantown seems doomed to never become a town at all. A half dozen houses constitute the village at present.

The first election was held at Luther Bateman's in 1824. The following is a list of the justices of the peace for Middlebury township: James John- son, 1824, re-elected and served until 1848; James Graham, elected in 1831, and served three terms; Stephen McPherson, 1842 and 1845; Ezra Marvin

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

and John W. Loofborow, 1848 and 1851; George W. Ewers and Thomas Craven, 1852; J. D. Burke and Daniel Ayres, 1855; J. D. Burke and Isaac Lynde, 1858, 1861, and 1864; Daniel Rich- ards, 1865; David Ewers and David Cosner, 1867; O. B. Johnson and William Penn, 1870 and 1873; O. B. Johnson and J. L. Van Buskirk, 1876; F. V. Owens and Daniel Randall, 1879; G. J. Ewers, 1881.

The board of township officers is constituted as follows: John W. Craven, William Cooke, and Henry Wagner, trustees; George J. Ewers, treas- urer, Vincent E. Dye, clerk ; A. S. Kirby, assessor ; George E. Cook and F. H. Johnson, constables; William Burkholder, A. S. Kirby, J. G. Bayer, A. N. Wertz, Daniel Randall and George E. McKin- ney, board of education; David Bullyer, Robert Martin, Jacob Zolman, Sylvester Caywood, J. C. Levering, Jerry Williams, A. N. Wertz, G. B. Ewers, F. C. Cochran, T. E. - Carson, W. H. Craven, and George Palmer, board of road super- visors.

The elections have always been held at Bate- mantown, except one year when Hezekiah Windom was trustee. That year John Levering, by the mag- netic influence of a turkey dinner, drew the polls to Waterford.

Waterford is situated on the north fork of Owl creek, six miles north of Fredericktown. It was laid out on the northwest quarter of section three, town eight, and range fourteen, of Congress lands, north of the Greenville treaty line. The land was owned by Josiah Fawcett and Noah L. Levering, and was surveyed by Merritt M. Beam, November 25 and 26, 1841.

The first house was built on the town plat by Josiah Fawcett.

The first store was kept by John and William Levering before the town was laid out. In 1865 Levering sold out to Benedict & Smith. The former sold his interest in the store to his partner in 1866. Benedict disposed of the stock to Bar- ton and Leander Ackerman in 1867, and in 1868 they moved to Hagerstown.

Josiah Fawcett commenced keeping store about 1835, and continued in the business till 1858, when he moved to Fredericktown.

In 1862 William Killen commenced merchan-

dising in Waterford, at Josiah Fawcett's old stand, and is still in the business.

The first post-office was established at Waterford, October 25, 1836, and named "Levering," in honor of John and Noah Levering, who were instrumental in establishing a postal route from Mount Vernon to Tiffin, Ohio, that year. While the Democrats were in power John Levering was secure in the possession of the post-office, but with the accession of the Whigs to power the post- office naturally gravitated towards the "shop across the way," kept by Josiah Fawcett.

With the varying phases of political fortune the post-office became a shuttlecock between rival stores, and once,

"While the lion and the unicorn Fought for the crown,"

Batemantown stepped in and carried off the prize; but it was not long permitted to remain at the rival town. A united effort soon succeeded in restoring the office to Waterford, where it has remained ever since. Since 1853, the following persons have held the office: Columbus Levering, Dr. Thomas Wat- ters, J. D. Burke, Dr. Clayton W. Townsend, Abraham Oberholtzer, Zoe Levering, Monroe Keys, Frank V. Owen, and Curtis Hardgrove.

The first tavern in Waterford was kept by Charles Wagner. He opened in 1844 and kept till 1864, when he moved to Fredericktown. His successor was Newton McCluckion, who still enter- tains strangers.

The practicing physicians of Waterford since 1841 have been: Drs. Copeland, Griffee, Turner, Bird, Walters, Spooner, Townsend, Cook, King, and C. C. Hill, a graduate of Jefferson Medical college of Philadelphia.

Waterford at present contains one post-office, Curtis Hardgrave, postmaster ; one grist mill, New- ton McCluckion, proprietor; two churches, Meth- odist Episcopal and Presbyterian; one school- house; one Odd Fellows' hall; two stores, Curtis Hardgrove and William Killen, proprietors ; one hotel, N. McCluckion proprietor ; one blacksmith, V. E. Dye; one shoemaker, J. G. Bayer; one painter, E. L. Grubb; one harness maker, George Kolb; one sawyer, Robert Zolman; one barber, L. L. Glasser; twenty-three dwellings, and one hundred and seven inhabitants.

QUAKER CHURCH.

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

One fourth of a mile north of Waterford is a cemetery which Noah Levering deeded to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1844, reserving one-fourth of an acre for the Lev- ering family. The first person buried here was Allen Levering, January 26, 1817.

The Quaker graveyard is probably the oldest burying ground in the township, but the date of the first burial is not within the recollection of the oldest inhabitant, and Quaker tombstones are pro- verbially as silent as the grave.

Some of the earliest and the principal settlers of Wayne, Middlebury and Berlin townships have been Friends, or Quakers, who emigrated from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Prominent among them were John Lewis and family, Thomas Townsend and family, Samuel Wilson and Family, Amos Farquhar and family, Henry Roberts and family, and Samuel Gregg and family. These peo- ple by strictly honest dealing and correct deport- ment won the respect and esteem of their neigh- bors, and by industry and economy added not a little to the wealth and prosperity of the settlement. People of their religious convictions and reverence for the peculiar form of worship which character- ized their fathers, could not long remain destitute of a place, as the Quaker poet expresses it-

"Where my brethren gather slow and calm."

So the Friends' society of Owl c:eek was organized in 1809, and their meetings were held for some time in private houses, and in course of time a meeting house was erected. The first structure was of the primitive type, composed of rough logs of the forest, which answered its purpose till 1822, when a brick building twenty-five by forty feet square, with a large fireplace and chimney at each end, was erected on the Fredericktown and Mans- field road, near the centre of section twenty. Here for years the Friends met together on the first and fourth days of the week to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences, with none to molest or make them afraid, and perhaps no people are more faithful to their Christian obliga- tions, or more punctual in their attendance at their meetings than they. For some time these people dwelt together in perfect harmony and friendship, seeming to enjoy a realization of "peace on earth and good will to men," but the serpent of discord

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History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 95

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