History of Licking County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, Part 104

Author: N. N. Hill, Jr.
Publication date: 1881
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 826

USA > Ohio > Licking County > History of Licking County, Ohio: Its Past and Present > Part 104

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HISTORY OF LICKING COUNTY.

called on Mr. Brown, to whom I was already indebted for many items in my Pioneer paper, but I did not find Mr. Brown so well posted on the mound question, and perhaps disposed to be a little skeptical as to my theory. But after spending an hour very pleasantly, and partaking of an excellent dinner with a wedding party, I again started north on the town line till I crossed the railroad. Here we found mounds on both side of the township line. From here we traveled west and north till we reached the old Columbus road from Granville, near to the residence of Colonel John C. Alward.

"On this trip I found several mounds, sonie in the vicinity of Ezekiel Cunningham, esq., but the largest is on the farm of Zephaniah Alward. The summit of this would command the view of a large scope of country if the timber were removed, and signals could be easily exchanged between this and those on the hills near Hebron, or with those about Union Station, and perhaps with not more than one repeating, to Columbus. I put up with Mr. John Deeds, on York street, and spent one day in this vicinity, and found several mounds. From here I travel- ed south and crossed the South fork into Atna township, and down the county line, south of the Bloody Run swamp to the Baltimore road, thence to Hebron, and along the east line of the township, back to Union Station. In this trip I sometimes laid down fences and rode through farms, and sometimes would leave my horse and walk a mile to examine some objective point, and I have found these mounds everywhere on this terri- tory, both on the hills and plains, in sufficient number to over- ook the whole surface of the land, and I do not believe that within the bounds of my research there can be found a single fifty acre lot that can not be viewed from some one or more of these artificial mounds. I have examined the location of more than one hundred, and have not found a single exception to the rule that each one is so situated as to command a view, more or less of which cannot be seen from any other, except in a few instances where they were double or in pairs. This rule, how- ever, would not hold good where they are found on a level plain in clusters, which is sometimes the case. On this trip I met with Mr. Jesse Thompson, of Hebron, but formerly of Fairfield county, Ohio, who informed me that when he first settled on Walnut creek, in Fairfield county, about the beginning of the present century, there was a graded road, easily traced in the timber; that it was some thirty or forty feet wide between the ditches, and appeared to be as old as the forts and mounds and he always thought it to be a road leading from the works near Newark to those at Circleville, as it was on a line between those points. But I have met with nothing of the kind, nor do I suppose that, in the present improved state of the country it could be found.

"There are some of these mounds that appear to be in an unfinished state, and some that must have been intended to answer some other purpose than that usually assigned them, or of signal points. There are several mounds on the lands of Mr. Dunlevy, and some of peculiar character. There is one west of the public road that is, by way of eminence, called *the mound,' because of its being larger than any other in that vicinity, that I will try to describe. It is situated a half mile north of the creek and nearly a half mile west of the public road, on a gently undulating plain. This mound is about twenty rods in diameter at the base, and, although it has been in cultivation many years, and every effort made to reduce its heighth by plowing around it (for it is too steep in its ascent for a team to pass over it), it is still some thirty feet high. On

the south side of this mound there appears to have been a land slide that has considerably reduced the grade of the ascent os that side, throwing it a little out of a regular circle, and giving it rather a semi-oblate form. On the north side, there has been a narrow, graded road for ascending the mound. This has been nearly destroyed by cultivation, but still can be seen. Bur the great curiosity in connection with this mound, and a pecu- liaritv that I have not found in any other, is the remains of a massive vault in the southwest part of the mound, that has nearly or quite extended to its center. From the present appearance, this vault must have been not less than sixty by one hundred feet, and possibly much more than that Ba its falling in, it has left the top of the mound in the form of a crescent or semi-circle, and doubtless has greatly reduced its altitude. I think that the bottom of the vault has been nearly on a level with the surrounding plain. There also appears to have been a narrow subterranean passage through the mound. from the north side of the mound to the vault. This is indi- cated by a narrow sink in the walls of the mound, that extends from the vault to the northern extremity of the mound. This transverse sink in the wall is yet clearly manifest, though the plow has passed over it several times. The length of this sub- terranean passage to the main cave or vault, must have been nearly two hundred feet. How the roof of this great artifx.' cavern may have been sustained, whether by an arch of su: dried brick, or otherwise, is left to conjecture; but if all other mysteries were solved that now surround some of these works, we could soon find means to sustain the roof of the caverns

"Some thirty or thirty-five rods south of the mound is an ex- cavation of considerable extent, from which a portion of the material to erect this pile was doubtless obtained. The soi. d this mound is very fertile, while a portion of the surroundin, plain is comparatively sterile. There are other tumuli aroca this at various distances that are in plain view from thi Among them are some in an unfinished state, others are com- plete; but none other possessed the threefold character of watch- tower, signal point and magazine for stores. From a half mue to a mile and a quarter to the northeast from this singur mound, is a series of knobs, or tumuli, of not less than fifty ca an area of some three hundred acres of land. Most of these have always been considered by the citizens natural elevators. though there are among them several well defined artificial mounds, and some things in others that give them the appear- ance of a series of artificial works, or perhaps rather, natura' elevations with artificial termini. While looking among these hillocks, which range from eight to fifty feet in height, and f various forms, I noticed that from the side of one of them a tree had fallen, that had turned up a root of some six feet in depth, which would reach to the level of the surrounding phar This I examined, and found that it had brought up from :x bottom a stratum of rich black soil, apparently of drift form.z- tion, while above it was a mixture of clay loam and grave This mound was not less than a hundred feet above the alluvas or bottoms of Auter creek, aud nearly a mile distant from 3 channel. This straitification of earth in this tree root showed not only that this was an artificial tumulus, but that it bad beat erected on the original surface soil. Not more than two bat- dred feet from this is found the largest mound that I have seu in the county, or that I have ever seen, except Everman's moon in Jasper county in the State of Illinois. But there are in to State some larger mounds. This is nearly round, betse hree and four hundred feet in diameter at the base, and.

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ould think, fifty feet high. There are two or more other well :fined artificial mounds on my father's farm, now owned by lesley Belt, but the greater portion of these elevations are on nds that were owned, when I left this State, by Reuben Lin- :l, Justin Hillyer and James Cunningham, all of which I :lieve is now owned by Mr. F. Dunlevy.

"There are among these knobs some ponds of water which think are artificial pools. Though the land there is generally lite porous, and the water passes away quickly, still, from me cause some of these pools are very retentive, and hold ater nearly or quite the year round. As we go west from this ngular cluster of elevations, along the line of Union and ranville townships, we find quite a number of mounds, some of hich are clearly in an unfinished state, while others are neatly Id scientifically completed.

It will be seen from the above that this township rich in antiquarian relics. This gentleman, in le same article, gives his theory regarding these sounds and their builders, which differs somewhat om the generally received theories, and will be und in another part of this work. In another rticle he says regarding the subject of antiquities:

"There were, at the first settlement of the township, many rel- s of antiquity found, such as axes, hatchets, pipes and ham- ers of stone, broken pottery, etc. If these had been pre- rved, a respectable cabinet of curiosities might have been tthered in this county alone. But no one then thought of the lue they might have been to science, and they have been lost destroyed. There was on my old farm, when first improved, very remarkable pile of "flint chips," and broken, and unfin- hed, 'arrow points,' amounting to several bushels. These ere at a place where neither flint nor stone were found beside em. Their presence there was a mystery to all who saw em; it was called by the early settlers the 'Indian arrow lop,' and the hunters used to resort there to get their gun-flints. he nearest place from whence they could be brought must we been the Flint ridge, some ten or twelve miles distant."

The following general history of this township as also written by Mr. Park:

"This is the largest township in Licking county. It em- aces about one and a half square miles in town one, range velve, and the whole of town one, range thirteen, United ates military lands. Also sections one to eighteen inclusive, town seventeen, range eighteen, of the Refugee lands on the uth, embracing an area of more than forty square miles. he south part of the township is watered by the south branch ` Licking, or the Pataskala river, which also constitutes a part the east line of the township. The middle is watered by the eaver run and its branches, and the north by Auter creek and itributaries. These all pass through its territory nearly from est to east, making it a uniformly well watered township. he face of the country is generally level, or gently undulating. he soil is a clay loam, rich with vegetable mould, sufficiently tentive to hold stimulating manure without leaching, yet the ibsoil is generally so porous as to need but little draining. It as well, if not better, adapted to a variety agriculture, than ly township in the county.

"There are no broken or waste lands in the township, except 28

a small district in the southeast corner, covered by the Licking Summit reservoir, and another small district in the southwest, by the Pigeon-roost or Bloody Run swamp. The latter has been greatly improved, within a few years past, by draining, and may yet be fully redeemed and become fine meadow land, or afford a valuable bed of rich fertilizing matter to enrich other lands with. Nearly the whole of the eighteen sections taken from the Refugee lands, and lying in the south part of the township, is an alluvion, and is rarely equaled as corn and meadow land; while the middle and northern portions of the township are more rolling and better adapted to the production of small grain and fruit trees.

"The public improvements are the Ohio canal, tbe Cumber- land road, and the Central Ohio railroad. The first was com- pleted through this township and county in the summer of 1828, the second in 1834, and the third in 1853. These, each in their turn, gave a great impetus to local improvements. These all run entirely through the township, and the canal and National road cross nearly at right angles within its territory, and afford ample facilities for getting its products to market. Hebron, its principal town, and situated at the crossing of the canal and National road, was once a fine business point, and, in the days of its glory, the largest and best grain and pork market in the county, if not in the Licking valley. But since the men that made it such have passed away, and railroad facil- ities have attracted the commerce to other points, Hebron has lost its prestige as a commercial point, and, with it, much of its moral and religious enterprise. The towns of Moscow and Lu- ray have nearly passed away. There is a small business done at Union station, oa the roilroad. These are the only villages in the township, from which it will be seen that Union is em- phatically an agricultural township. Although its villages are on the decline, both as to their population and business, its agricultural interests are improving. The lands are generally owned and occupied by an enterprising class of farmers that are rapidly developing the resources of its rich soil.

"It was very heavily timbered, and required as much hard labor to bring it into cultivation as any township in the county, The better kinds of timber consisted of black walnut, butter- nut, wild cherry, several varieties of oak, white, black and blue ash, hickory, mulberry and sugar maple. The less valuable were the beech, elm, basswood or linden, black gum, cotton- wood, sycamore, buckeye, etc., with underbrush of dogwood, red-bud, paw-paw, wild plum, spice brush, and, in many places, abundance of wild grapes and black haws. The apparent superabundance of timber induced such a reckless prodigality in its use and destruction, that good timber is becoming very scarce, and many farmers begin to feel much anxiety about a future supply of fencing and fuel.

"The principal productions of the south part of the town- ship, for many years, were corn and hay, which were generally fed to hogs, horses and cattle; while in the middle and north- ern portions more attention was given to the growth of all the cereals, as well as the cultivation of potatoes, turnips, flax, hemp, etc.

Wheat was grown with good success for many years, but af- ter awhile failures became more frequent from rust and the wheat midge, and for the last twenty-five years the farmers have given their attention to the growth of live stock, princi- pally sheep, rather than to the production of grain. While this township gives attention to the growth of all kinds of live stock common to this part of the country, it stands first in the

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HISTORY OF LICKING COUNTY.

county for the number of its sheep, and is one of the most fa- mous wool-growing districts in the State.

"In the early settlement of this part of the county, the citi- zens manufactured a large amount of maple sugar, not only a . supply for their home consumption, but considerable quantities for market. But the low price at which the cane-sugar could be had, for some time previous to the late war, caused the destruc- tion of the sugar groves to such an extent that there is now but little sugar made in the township. Many have tried the several varieties of sorghum, with some success, as a substitute for the maple and the southern sugar and molasses, but to those ac- customed to the use of the maple sugar and molasses, its use is not very palatable.

"There has been but little attention given to manufactures of any kind in this part of the county, except sawing lumber. The first settlers, however, manufactured all their own clothing and other textile goods for domestic use. The carding, spinning, and weaving was generally all done in the family. The first mill in Union township was built by Phineas Ford in 1803, on Auter creek, some forty rods below where his first cabin was erected, it was a small temporary log building ; the millright work, as well as the mill-iron, and the mill-stones (which were made from boulders, or nigger-heads, found on the surface of the ground), was all done by Mr. Ford himself. This mill was in a few years swept away by a flood. The mill-stones remain on the farm of Mr. Ford, a relic of antiquity. This mill was succeeded by another on the same stream built by James Mc- Cauley, in 1802 or 1803, but within the bounds of Newark township. The second mill in Union was built by John Good, on South fork, near the mouth of Bloody run, in 1807, this was kept up for some twenty years, but also passed away. Daniel Green erected another on the same stream, near Mos- cow, about the year 1830. There was another below this. erected some years before by Matthew Black, but it stood on the east side of the river, within the present bounds of Licking township. The last two are still kept running, but are in a state of dilapidation.

"In the year 1820 Joseph Mantonya erected water works on Auter creek, a little above the site of the old Ford mill, for the purpose of manufacturing sickles and augers, to which he attached a mill for grinding. This establishment was of great value to this county at that time. Mr. Mantonya was a good workman, and the demand for his sickles was large, as the small grain in those days was all cut with the sickle. This manufactory was suc- cessfully carried on several years, until Mr. Mantonya left his shop to become a contractor in building the Ohio canal. It then remained comparatively idle until the spring of 1830, when it was repaired and again put into successful operation by Mr. Mantonya and Samuel Park. In a few years, perhaps in the year 1835, it was sold to Phinehas Ford and his son Benjamin, who converted it into a saw-mill. In the year 1831 John Park erected a saw-mill where Union Station now is, and in 1832 Samuel Vance erected another, a mile below; and in 1833 Messrs. S. H. Joseph and J. Downer erected another a half mile above, all on the same stream, making four saw-mills with- in a distance of one and a half miles. These were all kept up nearly twenty years, and some of them more. Almost every rod of the channel of Auter creek, from its mouth to the Joseph & Downer mill above the fork, has at some time been occupied for mill purposes, and at the early settling of the country it was a good mill stream; but since the country has been cleared up it does not afford water enough to be worth occupying for that

purpose. It may have been noticed that this stream is called Auter creck, when it is generally known by the name of Ramp creek. The latter is a misnomer, and originated as follows :- At the first settling of this country, and up to about the year 1820, the wide and fertile bottoms along this stream were covered in early spring with a wonderful growth of leeks, which the Vir- ginians and Pennsylvanians 'called Ramps; these were eaten freely by the cattle in the spring, before other vegetation came on to supply their wants. This gave a very unpleasant smell to the breath of the cattle, and a disgusting flavor to the milk and butter. This, however, was partially neutralized and rendered endurable by a person eating freely of raw onions or garlick before partaking of the milk and butter, but it did not remove the bitterness of feeling entertained by the citizens against those early plants, and about the year 1807 or 1808, the first settlers along this valley applied the name of these plants to the stream on whose rich bottom lands they grew so abundantly, and it has never been so far redeemed from its "rampy reproach, " as to be called by its proper name. The name Auter creek is French, and signifies another creek. This name may have orig- inated in the very singular circumstance of so many streams of so nearly the same size forming a junction so nearly at the same point, as do the several branches of Licking river. The only wool carding machines ever run in Union township were, one erected by N. Buckland & Brother in 1829, and another by a gentleman in Hebron, some three or four years later; but these have both long since ceased to operate. .

"There is a tile factory in Hebron, and a carriage factory IE the town of Luray, which are all the manufacturing establish ments of any importance now in the township.

" The first canal-boat built in the county, or that floated on the waters of the Ohio canal within its borders, was built by a joint-stock company at Hebron, in 1827-8, and was called the "Licking Summit." It was built under the supervision of Joshua Smith, and made its first trip through the "Deep cut " on the Fourth of July, 1828, but it was built too large to pass the locks. and was so poorly constructed and drew so much water that it was not thought worth reconstructing, consequently. it never left the summit level. It was laid up in he basin at Hebron, for a while used as a drinking saloon-then as a resort for the lewd, or a kind of house of ill-fame, until it was destroyed as - .nuisance, or rotted down. This statement is in part confirmed by Captain John Murphy, formerly af this county, and now uf Knox county, Ohio, who also furnished the information that he run the first boat through from Cleveland to Portland It s also corroborated by Mr. H. H. Denis, of Newark, and Messrs James Sawyer and Dr. James Ewing, and John Edwards, esq of Hebron.

"The distilleries were another class of manufactories that were of too much importance in those days to be passed without notice, for their product was used by nearly everybody and was considered an article of necessity in every household Even among the clergy there were some that thought the exhiler- ating effects of the spirit of the 'still' was quite essential to an effective elucidation of the 'Spirit of the Sacred Writings The importance of the stills may be conceived from the prompt- ness with which they sprang into existence, after the erecticz of the cabin in the wilderness, for the protection of the family from the inclemency of the season, and the production of a little surplus grain for them to operate on. The first distillery in Union township, so far as we can learn, was erected by Abram Mouser in 1809, a little east of Thomas Stone's farm.

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HISTORY FO LICKING COUNTY.

d to people of this character is America largely debted for civil liberty, and the present character its free institutions. High historical authority ancroft) says: "The first public voice in America r dissolving all connection with Great Britain, me not from the Puritans of New England, the utch of New York, nor the planters of Virginia, it from the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians."

The Methodists were probably the first to organize church in this township, but its earlier history is volved in obscurity, as will be observed. The casional preaching of Father Emmet, who was the st, or among the first to hold religious services the township, resulted in the organization of a ciety in 1810, under authority of the conference, ' Rev. J. B. Finley, also a pioneer preacher, and le of considerable note.

The society was composed of Rev. Caleb Pum- very, John Green and James Smith, local preach- 's, Jacob Hanger and Abram Kearns, class leaders, id thirty members. In the following year Rev. lisha Bowman was sent from Kentucky to preach or them, and under his pastoral charge the society ecame divided on what was considered by the nurch authorities a new departure on the doctrine f the Trinity, and schism and discord followed, in- erfering with the prospects of the infant society.

In 1812, Rev. Mr. Ellis became pastor and at- empted to amicably arrange the differences between he two factions, but found it such a difficult matter hat he concluded to take a new start. He there- ore destroyed the class-books, records and papers, nd called upon all who wished to be Methodists o come forward and join the church. Success at- ended his labors. He was succeeded by Revs. Samuel Knox, Jacob Hooper, Samuel Hamilton, oseph Carper, Thomas Carr, Mr. Laen and El- lathan Raymond, in about the order named.

This congregation yet mantains a flourishing church and Sabbath-school in Utica.

The Presbyterian church, of Utica, was organ- zed October 5, 1818, and Rev. James Cunning- lam was its first pastor. The original members vere the following: Mrs. McCreary, James Cham- vers and wife, John Dixon, Rebecca Dixon, Will- am and Mary Forsyth, Samuel and Isabella Shields, James Coulter, Cornelius Larue, Mrs. Hunter, Mrs. Cunningham, William Cur ningham,

Thomas and Joseph Scott and their wives, John and Mrs. Ross; Joseph, John, David, Patrick, and two Mrs. Moores; Jeremiah and Mrs. Belt, Mrs. Woodrow, and John and Mrs. Connar.

The five elders chosen at the organization were Patrick Moore, John Moore, Joseph and Thomas Scott and John Ross.

Mr. Cunningham continued to supply the church about ten years, in connection with the church at Mary Ann. He was succeeded by Rev. Henry Hervey, D. D., who preached first in Utica on the fourth .Sabbath of June, 1829. He was a gradu- ate of Jefferson college, and supplied the church at Utica five years, or until 1834, after which time his pastoral labors were confined to Martinsburg. During the time of his ministry in Utica, the church building, a frame structure that had stood several years not plastered, and otherwise unfin- ished, was furnished with seats and a pulpit. Dur- ing the same period, a Sabbath-school was organ- ized through the instrumentality of Mr. L. W. Knowlton.

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History of Licking County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, Part 104

Author: N. N. Hill, Jr. Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Number of Pages: 826

Author: N. N. Hill, Jr.
Publication date: 1881
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 826