History of Licking County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, Part 77

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

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"About 1822 L. D. Mower commenced merchandising, built a new brick store-house on the south side of the street, between the houses occupied by Doctor Spellman and Dr. Paul Eagar. His brother, Horatio, and Alfred Avery were associated with him; and after Horatio's death his brother Sherlock was a part- ner. Mr. Mower also worked the furnace until he disposed of his interest in that enterprise to E. Fassett, as before mentioned. Afterward A. P. Pritchard was a partner of his in the sale of goods in 1830, under the firm name of Mower & Pritchard. Mr. Mower was a very thorough business man, and a man of great energy and perseverance, and acquired a handsome.prop- erty. He died in 1834 or 1835.

"A. P. Pritchard was probably the first druggist in the county. He had a chemical establishment or labratory in connection with the drug business, near ihe spring, in the northwest part of town.

"Other parties.were engaged in merchandising from 1820 to 1838, whose names are as follows: Elias Fassett, Alfred Avery, P. W. Taylor, D. R. Cook, Elmer Abbott, Doctor Sylvester Spellman, Simeon Reed, D. D. Jewett and George Abbott. Some of these parties were also engaged in the furnace, their names appearing in a former paragraph. It is supposed that these gentlemen were generally successful in their undertakings. A steam flouring mill was built near the furnace in 1831, by P. W. Taylor & Co. After the feeder had been finished to Gran- ville, the mill was removed to the site of the old Phelps saw- mill, before referred to.

"In 1832 the question was agitated of building a new court house. The people of Granville became much ex- cited on the subject, and made great efforts to get the county seat removed to this place, offering to build the county build- ings without charge to the county, or contribute largely thereto. Newark, however, being in possession, and being on the main line of the canal, overcame the enterprise of the Granvillians, and the county seat remained at Newark, and the people of Newark were not required to contribute anything to retain it.

"The Granville feeder extended from Licking summit to Raccoon creek at Paige's woollen factory, about a mile and a quarter southeast of town. In order to have navigation as near the town as possible, the canal commissioners agreed to make the feeder navigable for boats to Paige's factory, provided the people of Granville would make it navigable from thence to the bridge at the Lancaster road. This they agreed to do. It in- volved a considerable expense, as a dam, guard-lock, lift-lock, and about half a mile of canal had to be built to render it nav- igable.

"A warehouse was erected at the head of navigation, and a boat built there by the Troy and Ohio line, under the superin- tendence of a Mr. Wallace, and it is supposed that it was the first canal-boat built south of Cleveland. The feeder was nav- igated until the furnace was abandoned in 1838, since which it has become dilapidated and out of repair.

"During the construction of the canal, many of the citizens were engaged as contractors on the work, among whom were A. Munson, L. D. Mower, P. W. Taylor, Sylvester Hayes,

Levi Rose, Alfred Avery, Elias Fassett, Joseph Fassett, Sim- eon Reed, Byron Hayes, William Wing, Justin Hillyer, jr., Curtis Howe, Ashley A. Bancroft, Hugh and Dennis Kelley. Several of the above had large contracts, and they generally enjoyed the confidence of the canal commissioners. I have no doubt that more of such work was done by these people than was done by the people of any other township or county in the State. So far as I know, it is believed their contracts were generally remunerative.

"A water-cure was established in 1852, by Dr. W. W. Ban- croft. The establishment was well patronized from the first, and has been very successful in the treatment of chronic and other diseases .* .

"In the late war for the suppression of the Rebellion, it is understood that the people of Granville patriotically responded to the calls of the Government, in all cases filling their quotas, and contributing in every possible way to aid and assist those and the families of those who were called to the front. Several of the Granville boys shed their blood and lost their lives in the service of the country, and in defence of free institutions.

In a paper read on the Fourth of July, 1871, at Utica, Mr. Wing continues :

"Revel Everett was a Granville man. I remember him as be- ing constable of the township. Afterwards he removed to Hartford, and for a time was engaged in merchandising and where he has continued to reside ever since.

"David Messenger, of the committee, I recognize as an old familiar friend, one whom I have known about as long as any other in the State, he being a resident of Granville when I ar- rived. He was a shoemaker by trade. I think he did not take kindly to it, or the business did not suit him. He acquired con- siderable reputation as a player on the violin, and at the first dancing party I attended, six days after my arrival, he was one of the musicians who made music for the dance. The other player was Fish, of Johnstown, and their 'Money Musk,' 'Fisher's Hornpipe,' and other tunes for country dances were not often excelled. About 1821 he came to Utica and engaged in merchandising, and continued the business some years.

"I believe none of the first settlers of Granville township now survive. There are few townships in the county whose repu- tation is as good as that of Granville, or one that has done more for the advancement of good morals and public and pri- vate enterprises."

In his paper read on the Fourth of July, 1872, at Newark, he says:

"Oren and Ralph Granger, brothers, each kept a tavern in Granville, and kept good houses. Oren died in 1821 or 1822 ; Ralph continued in the same business at times until 1830, when he removed to his farm, and died about 1866. Willard Warner kept a tavern in Granville four or five years and removed thence to Newark, where he kept at the Houston stand some- time. He was a mail contractor and represented Licking county in the senate one term.

"Major J. R. Munson was by profession a lawyer, and was a man of good natural ability ; was a representative in the legis- lature when it met at Chillicothe, and was said to have been instrumental in obtaining the charter of the Granville Alexan- drian society; which, it was supposed, conferred banking

*This institution went out of existence two or three years ago.

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powers. He was not fortunate in his business enterprises, and died in 1821 or 1822.

"Elias Fassett, before mentioned as a business man of Gran- ville, removed to Cleveland and thence to New York, engaging first in the dry goods business, then in brokerage, dealing in bonds and stocks until 1856, when he returned to his farm near Granville; was elected president of the Central Ohio railroad company, holding the position some two years, and retiring to his farm, where he died suddenly in 1863."

In the early days of the agitation of the slavery question-between 1825 and 1840-when an abo- litionist was something of a curiosity in this coun- ty, Granville had her share of them, and her share of trouble in consequence. Quite an anti-slavery society was organized in that place, and although they dare do or say nothing openly for some years, they grew bolder by degrees, and began to hold meetings and have public speaking upon that all- important subject. The men of Granville gener- ally had minds and thoughts of their own upon all subjects, and Puritan blood was generally largely impregnated with abolition blood. Something was done here on the under-ground railway, and there were a few zealous workers in the abolition cause at all times, and their numbers continually increased. A majority of the people were, how- ever, pro-slavery, as they were everywhere in the North.

About April 1, 1835, a Mr. Weld, an abolition- ist, undertook to deliver a lecture in Granville, and was stoned and egged by a mob. He had lectur- ed a few days before at Circleville, where he had also received rough treatment; the mob throwing eggs and stones through the window.

"One of the stones was so well aimed that it struck me on the head, and, for a moment, stunned me. I paused a few moments until the dizziness had ceased, and then went on, and finished my lecture. Meanwhile, some of the gentlemen had hung their cloaks up at the window, so that my head could not be so easily used as a target."

The above extract is from a letter written by Mr. Weld at the time, and is evidence of what an abolition lecturer had to endure.

In the following year, 1836, the following notice appeared in the Newark Gazette:

"We, citizens of the town of Granville, in the county of Licking, and State of Ohio, having understood from common report, and from certain notices published in newspapers, that a State convention of delegatesfrom the Abolition societies of Ohio is to be held in this place on the twenty-seventh day of April,

ensuing ; and having had bitter experience, in times past, of the evil effects of abolition meetings, as tending to destroy the peace of society, and introduce discord and contention through all its constituent departments ; and learning that a great and increasing excitement already exists, not only in our own, but in the neighboring towns, in prospect of the contemplated meeting-we do, therefore, most earnestly remonstrate against any such meeting being held in our town on the twenty-seventh day of April, or any other day in the year. And we most ear- nestly call upon and request all officers and leaders of the aboï- tion society, and all who are, or may be, appointed delegates to the said convention, if they have the least regard for our peace and welfare, or for the well-being of the religious, moral, and literary institutions established among us, to abstain from com- ing to said meeting. And we do hereby engage to use our best endeavors, by all lawful and proper means, to prevent any such public meeting from being held within the limits of our corporation.

"Granville, March 31, 1836."

This notice was signed by Elias Fassett, mayor: Samuel Bancroft, recorder; William S. Richards, Knowles Linnel, S. Spellman, S. Mower, Daniel Wildman, council, and by sixty-nine other citizens.

Notwithstanding this, the abolitionists held their meeting, though not, it seems, within the corpora- tion. Mr. Briggs, in an editorial published in the Advocate, April 30, 1836, thus gives the result, heading his article "Bloody Wars in Canada:"

"The abolition convention adjourned on Thursday about noon. The day was distinguished by violence and bloodshed, though fortunately no lives were lost.

"On Wednesday evening, the abolitionists held a meeting in a school-house, about a mile south of Granville. During the evening a mob collected, and broke the windows with stones. They were driven off by the abolitionists. They dispatched expresses during the night to Martinsburgh, Utica, Mount Vernon and Newark, for re-inforcements, and accordingly a number of recruits were in the field on the next day, armed with clubs and ready for action.

"Twelve o'clock on Thursday was the time fixed upon for the commencement of hostilities. The convention adjourned about that time, and many of the members accompanied by ladies formed a procession about a mile from the village where the convention sat, and marched through the principal streets. where the mob was assembled. When they reached that point. the mob commenced hissing and yelling, and followed the pro- cession to the ladies' academy, where the ladies left the proces- sion; and then both parties resorted to clubs, dirks and brick- bats, which they employed as knock-'em down arguments for and against the abolition scheme. The fighting continued at inter- vals for some time. One of the mob was dirked, and some of the abolitionists were knocked down with clubs, and one was pelted with eggs most unmercifully. Three abolition horses" manes and tails were closely shaved."

In another part of the same issue, Mr. Briggs says:

"We are told that upwards of four thousand dollars wert

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contributed by the abolitionists at Granville on Wednesday night, to support a press that is about to be established at Cin- cinnati, and to defray the expense of printing abolition tracts."

It will be seen from the above that both parties were very determined, and that the abolitionists were especially wide-awake, active, belligerent, in earnest, and ready with brain, muscle and money to further their cause. Thirty years from that time their cause emerged from the smoke, dust and blood of battle, triumphant.

The following regarding Granville is from Howe's Collections:

"When Granville was first settled it was supposed that Worthington would be the capital of Ohio, between which and Zanesville this would make a great half-way town. At this time, snakes, wolves and Indians abounded in this region. On pleasant spring mornings, large numbers of snakes were found running on the flat stones. Upon prving up the stones, there was revealed a singular fact respecting the social nature of ser- pents. Dens were found containing very discordant materials. twenty or thirty rattle-snakes, black-snakes and copper-heads, all coiled up together. Their liberal terms of admission only seemed to require evidence of snakeship. Besides various turnouts to kill them, the inhabitants had one general hunt. Elias Gillman and Justin Hillyer were the captains, who chose sides, and the party beaten were to pay three gallons of whis- key. Tradition is divided as to the number killed that day; some say three hundred. They killed that year between seven and eight hundred rattle-snakes and copper-heads, keeping no account of the black and other harmless serpents. The young men would seize them by the neck and thrash them against the trees, before they had time to bite or coil around their arms. The copper-head, though smaller, was much more feared. The rattle-snake was larger, sooner seen and a true southerner, always living up to the laws of honor. He would not bite without provocation, and by his rattles gave the challenge in an honorable way. Instead of this well-bred warfare the copper- head is a wrathy little fellow, whose ire is always up, and he will make at the hand or the foot in the leaves or grass, before he is seen, and his bite is as poisonous as that of his brother of the larger fang. The young men tested his temper and found that in his wrath he would bite a red hot coal. Very few were bitten by the rattle-snake, and all speak well of his good dispo- sition and gentlemanly manners; but so many were bitten in consequence of the fractious temper of the copper-head, that he has left no one behind him to sound a note in his praise.

"The limb bitten became immediately swollen, turned the color of the snake, and the patient was soon unable to walk. In some cases the poison broke out annually, and in others the limb for years was inclined to frequent swellings. After all that was suffered from poisonous reptiles, it was proved to a demonstration that no animal is so poisonous as man. Carry- ing more poison in his mouth than any other creature, he can poison a venomous serpent to death quicker than the serpent can him. Martin Root and two other young men, chopping together, saw a rattle-snake, set a fork over his neck, and put into his mouth a new quid from one of their mouths. They raised the fork, and the poor creature did not crawl more than

his length before he convulsed, swelled up and died, poisoned to death by virus from the mouth of one of the lords of crea- tion. Deacon Hayes and Worthy Pratt tried the same experi- ment upon copper-heads, with the same result. Many others killed venomous reptiles in the same way, and one man pre- tended that by moderate use he had taught a copper-head to take tobacco without injury."

Of the adult pioneers of the Granville colony who came here in 1805, all are dead; a few of their children, however, whom they brought here at that date are yet living. Among them are Franklin and Ezekiel Gavitt, who live in Delaware county; Timothy M. Rose, yet living in Granville; Hiram P. Rose, living in Indiana; Justin and Truman Hilliar; Justin in Kansas and Truman in Colum- bus, Ohio. Sylvanus and Gideon Comel are probably living. Leverett and Charles Butler are yet living in this county.

The Center Star lodge, Free and Accepted Ma- sons, spoken of in Mr. Wing's paper as being first in the county, was organized by Mr. Job Case, Timothy Spellman, Justin Hillier, David Butler, and Elias Gilman. These gentlemen having received the degrees of symbolic Masonry in New England, united with a few others and presented a petition to Lewis Cass, grand master of Masons in Ohio, early in 1810, praying for a dispensation to organize a lodge in Granville. Mr. Cass came to Granville in person and organized the lodge, in the upper room of the dwelling of Deacon Timothy Rose. The lodge was chartered in January, 1811, and num- bered eleven persons. Its first officers were: Job Case, worthy master; Timothy Spellman, senior warden, and Noble Landon, junior warden. The first place of meeting was a room in the second story of the residence of Elias Gilman, finished off for that purpose. The first Masonic hall in the county was ten by fourteen and a half feet in size. It had a window on the east side, a fire-place on the west side, and was the first room finished off and plastered in Granville. About a year after the organization of the lodge, a larger and more con- venient room was secured in the residence of Grove Case. The first candidate initiated in this lodge was Hiram Rose. The first return to the Grand lodge included 1810 and 1811, and showed a membership of twenty Master Masons, and, at the end of 1812, the membership had increased to thirty-nine.

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The nearest lodges to Granville, in those days, were at Worthington, Mt. Vernon, and Zanesville. The first death in the lodge was that of James Thrall, in 1813.

The "fourth step in Masonry " was introduced into this lodge June 30, 1814, and Timothy Spell- man was passed to the chair of King Solomon.

Center Star lodge went down in 1837, but was resuscitated again in 1850, and has continued in successful operation to the present time.

The Granville of the present day is a beautiful, pleasant, healthy village, the people being more devoted to religious and educational matters than, perhaps, any other town of its size in the State.

About 1850 water works were projected and put in successful operation. Dr. Sinnet and a few other leading citizens were influential in getting these established, and thus giving the town the ad- vantage of the purest of spring water. The water was brought from a spring on the farm of Colonel Woods, two miles northwest of town, and con- veyed in earthen pipes to a reservoir near the "Sugar Loaf," a conical hill in the western suburbs of the town. From here it is distributed over the town, wherever wanted, in pipes. Those who use the water pay a rental of five dollars a year for an ordinary family.

The company that carried these works forward to completion was known as the "Granville Hy- draulic company." As an investment, in a finan- cial view, it did not pay, and probably its projec- tors thought less of making money out of it than of furnishing the inhabitants with pure water. April 13, 1860, the company sold out to Mr. San- ford for two hundred and thirty-four dollars; sub-

sequently Mr. Sanford died and willed the works to the town, one of the conditions, being that the town should pay to the Episcopal church one hun- dred dollars per annum.

One of the woollen factories, mentioned by Mr. Wing, stood about one and one-fourth miles below Granville on Raccoon creek, and was destroyed by fire about 1840. Another building was erected and used as a woollen factory until 1856. Subse quently, about 1857, Noah Clouse established the present machine shop in this building. The firm is Noah Clouse & Son, and they have conducted this business successfully to the present time.

Granville, however, lays no claim to being an unusual manufacturing or business place. There are several manufacturing establishments within the limits of the place, among which are the mar- ble works, the planing mills of Jones Brothers and of Pratt Brothers. Both these firms make and deal largely in furniture. There are three dry goods stores, kept by George Parsons, Henry Green, and Mr. Craig; two grocery stores, kept by Carter & Carter and H. L. Reed; one drug store, kept by Charles Bryant ; one hardware store, kept by Jones Brothers; two banks, one national and one private; two newspapers, two hotels, and the usual number of smaller establishments. The trades and professions are also well represented. It does not appear that it is money and business that these people are living for; the whole com- munity is deeply religious, highly educated, and, as one prominent educator expressed it, they are "interested in what the human mind can accom- plish."

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CHAPTER LII. GRANVILLE-INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING.

AN EDUCATIONAL CENTER -- FIRST SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL-HOUSES-THE GRANVILLE FEMALE COLLEGE-THE GRANVILLE FEMALE INSTITUTE-DENISON UNIVERSITY.

YONSIDERING Granville as an educational center, the history of its first schools and school-houses becomes a matter of some impor- tance. From the character of the first settlers, who came from the land of schools and churches, it is not surprising that these institutions soon took root in the new settlement, grew and flour- ished, and are to-day among the best in the State. C

The first school-house erected in Granville was in January, 1806, about two months after the arri- val of the first detachment of the Granville col- ony. It was a rude log building, stood on the site of the Presbyterian church, and was used for church and school purposes. The colony was not much divided in church matters; nearly all be- longed to the Congregational church they had organized in Granville, Massachusetts, and "those who were not regular communicants attended the church and assisted in its support. This log building was used four or five years, when the church wanted a better building for its use and the old log must be taken away. This necessitated the erection of a new school-house. This second building was of brick, and was an imposing struc- ture for those times. It stood at the foot of the hill, on Market street, facing Main; was two sto- ries and a basement in height; it was solid and commodious, and did honor to the people. It was probably the first brick house in the village. For many of the first years of its existence, there were not children enough in Granville to fill it, and therefore part of it was rented for other pur- poses. The basement was used as a market-house, the upper room, a large hall, was used by the Ma- sonic fraternity, and the second floor only was occupied as a school-room. This building was also used some time by the Episcopalians for

holding services, before their church was erected. It served all the purposes of a school-house until 1854, when the present union school building was erected. This latter building is situated in the northeastern part of town, is a commodious brick, and probably accommodates two hundred scholars. Five teachers are employed. This is a district school, and the only school in town beside the three colleges.

Of these colleges, the first one was established in 1827, by the Congregational church, or in other words, by the Granville colony. Prominent mem- bers of the colony were instrumental in establish- ing this college, which first went by the name of Granville academy. The building in which this college was established is yet standing. It is a small frame, and when first occupied by the school it stood on the lot now occupied by the residence of Dr. Sinnet. When this institution was first established, it was open for both male and female students. The female department was conducted on the domestic labor plan, the same plan upon which Denison university started out. That class of institutions was popular in those days, the idea being that a young person of either sex should be taught the various branches of labor necessary for them to understand in the battle of life, and those unable to pay their full tuition were thus enabled to earn part of it, and thereby were placed on an equal footing, in educational advantages, with their wealthier classmates. The female depart- ment of this school was under charge of Miss Marianne Howe in 1827; in 1828, under Miss Emma Little, and from 1830 to 1834, under the charge respectively of Miss Boardman, Miss Eels, and Miss Eliza Foster. In 1834, Miss Nancy Bridges and Miss Elizabeth Grant were teachers.

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History of Licking County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, Part 77

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