History of Licking County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, Part 87

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

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The names of these original members are as fol- lows: William Baird and wife, Hall Robertson and wife, Samuel S. Dobbin and wife, Isaac Condit and wife, Joseph Baird and wife, Peabody Atkin- son, Mrs. Hannah Van Dorn and daughter Sara ?- Julia Knowles, John Frazier, William C. Condit. Mrs. Niblow, and Orson Smith and wife.

"The church was named the South Fork Presby. terian church, embracing a territory about ten miles long, from east to west and four or five wide.

S. S. Dobbin was elected and ordained an elder in the infant church. Mr. Putnam alone remained over the Sabbath, and administered the Lord's sup- per after preaching a sermon. During the follow- ing year there was only occasional preaching, and that sometimes at Kirkersville, in a school-house. at the northwest corner of the village, and some times near Mr. Alward's in the log school-house in Lima.

"In the summer of 1838, Rev. Hugh Carlisie preached a few Sabbaths for them, and in June of that year Rev. Francis Bartlett spent a Sabbath in Kirkersville, and preached.

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"October 14, 1838, Rev. T. W. Howe began his labors in the South Fork church. No house of worship was owned by the Presbyterians at that time. Only one family connected with the Pres- byterian church at that time lived in a frame house; the others lived in log cabins. The meetings were held the first year in the Methodist Episcopal church in Etna; in the frame school-house in Kirkersville, and in the log school-house near Mr. S. D. Alward's. After the first year in Etna, Pres- byterians occupied the house built by the United Brethren, as the Presbyterians had assisted them in building it. For eleven years it was thus occu- pied every other Sabbath in the afternoon.

"In Lima township we continued to worship in a school-house; and one summer (1849) we occu- pied the upper story of the Conine grist-mill, be- fore it was finished. Not until 1852 was the house in the beautiful grove, at the gravel bank, so far completed that we could meet in it for public worship. This house cost about eight hundred dollars, and was occupied about sixteen years, or intil the fall of 1868, when the roof had so far ailed that it became unsafe to meet under it; and he congregation determined to build anew in Pa- askala, rather than repair the old one.

"When the congregation had resolved to build, he Methodist church kindly, and unsolicited, invi- ed us to occupy their house until the new one ould be erected. This invitation was thankfully ccepted, and as we wished to use it but once in wo weeks it fully met our wants. In February, 869, Jesse Horn, Timothy H. Cooley, and Joseph Atkinson were appointed a building committee, nd discharged their duty faithfully. They pur-

hased of Mr. Jacob Joseph a lot for six hundred nd fifty dollars. Mr. Joseph generously taking ix hundred dollars. The building was to be f brick, forty by sixty feet, and the estimated ost five thousand dollars. A subscription paper as circulated in the congregation, and the pas- or visited Granville, where he was kindly received, nd obtained from the good people one hundred and orty-five dollars for this object. Samuel S. Dob- in, the first elder of this church, who has for the st seventeen years been living in Illinois, also isisted us in this important crisis to the amount " one hundred dollars. Our sister congregation

in Jersey also gave a helping hand. Six hundred dollars were given as a grant from the Presbyterian church erection committee to be paid when that sum would pay the last dollar due for the building. That sum was paid and the congregation worship- ped in their new house the first Sabbath in Sep- tember, 1870. The building and lot cost not far from seven thousand dallars.

"October 13, 1870, the church was dedicated to God with appropriate services. Rev. Daniel Tenny, of Newark, preached the sermon from Haggai, 2: 9. 'The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former.'

"In April, 1867, a request was sent to the Pres- bytery to change the name of the church to 'Patas- kala.' This was granted.

"In 1852 that portion of the church living most convenient to Kirkersville began to feel that they ought to have a separate organization at that place, and in October of that year forty-four members received letters and formed the first Presbyterian church of Kirkersville. In the same year a Con- gregational church was organized in Columbia Cen- ter, and eight more received letters from the South Fork church to unite in Columbia. By our record, I see that the church received into its communion from January, 1839, to January, 1852, one hundred and eighty members. By deaths and removals, otherwise than to form the aforesaid churches, the South Fork church had but about seventy, or sev- enty-five members remaining."

The day on which this church was dedicated (October 13, 1870) Rev. T. W. Howe completed his thirty-second year of service in this congrega- tion. Of those who united in the organization of this church, in November, 1837, only two remain connected with it at the present time, viz., Mr. William Baird and Mrs. Margery Baird, widow of the late Joseph Baird; the others have departed for the "shadow land." The present membership of this church is something over two hundred. Mr. Howe continued preaching for it thirty-seven years, but in 1876, his health compelled him to withdraw from his labors. A Sunday-school had generally been sustained in this church during the summer season, but owing to the sparseness of the population in the early days of its history, a union school was formed and all met at the

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Methodist church. This union took place in the spring of 1868, but the number soon began to in- crease until it reached one hundred and eighty-five, more than could be conveniently accommodated in the Methodist church, so that when the Presby- terian building was erected the school was divided; both are, however, working harmoniously. The Presbyterian school is large and flourishing, the average attendance being about one hundred and sixty.

Beside the Presbyterian there are two churches in Pataskala-the Methodist and United Brethren. The former is the second Methodist church organi- zation in the township, and emanated from what is known as the "Lima Methodist church." This lat- ter church is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, in the township. It was probably organized some years prior to the organization of the Presbyterian. It is yet in a flourishing condition and occupies a good church building located on Muddy fork, a mile or more northwest of the center of the town- ship. When the railroad came through, about 1852, a few of its members, who were compelled to travel some distance to church, concluded to organize a second class in Pataskala, then just laid out. The organization was effected in 1853 or 1854 by Rev. Henry Lonnis, with sixteen mem- bers, among whom were the following: Daniel Conine and wife, Henry Meade and wife, Jesse S. Green and wife, Thomas Parker and wife, Calvin Dibble and wife, and Luman Dibble, the last of whom was the first class leader.

For the first two years their meetings were held in the old frame school-house, but in 1856, the present church edifice was erected. It is frame, about thirty by forty five feet, plain and comfort- able. The present membership is about one hun- dred and twenty-five.

About the time the church was organized a Sun- day-school was also organized, has been kept up since, and is in a flourishing condition.

The United Brethren church of Pataskala em- anated from a society organized more than forty years ago, about two miles north of Pataskala, and where a church building was erected and services held until 1870, when the church building became unfit for use, and instead of rebuilding at that place, the Christian Union church building in Pataskala

was purchased, and the church transferred to this place. The church was reorganized in Pataskala in March, 1870. Prior to the purchase of the Christian Union church, the society met for a short time in the old Wesleyan Methodist church, one of the first churches erected in Pataskala; the Wesleyan Meth- odist society having disbanded. Rev. D. Bonebrake was influential in the organization of this church, and D. Rockey and wife, D. Johnson and wife, J. C. Houser and wife, William Rockey and wife, Mrs. Ewing and Mrs Joseph, widow of J. W. Joseph, were the leading members. The present building is a fine substantial brick, the United Brethren hav- ing added twenty feet to it upon coming into possession. The membership is about sixty. The Sunday-school was organized about 1873; is live and active, with a membership of sixty or more.

The Christian Union society, which erected this United Brethren church, moved to Columbia cen- ter, where their organization was continued some years, but the church is not at present in a flour- ishing condition. This was, to some extent, a po- litical organization, the members having seceded from the Presbyterian church during the war, on account of the Union sentiments of the pastor and the larger part of the congregation.

A Congregational church was organized at Co- lumbia center in 1852, by Revs. Charles M. Put- man and T. W. Howe, the original members being at the time members of Mr. Howe's church in Pataskala. These were S. D. Alward and wife, George Chadwick and wife, Mark Ritchie and wife, Mr. Simmons, Alfred Whitehead and John Reese. They first met in the school-house, but soon built a small church, costing, probably, not over a hundred dollars, which they occupied until 1878, when the present building was erected.

Mr. Howe preached for them at first, for some time. This church has, also, declined, and ser- vices are not now regularly held. A flourishing union Sunday-school is, however, maintained at Columbia center.

On the old "Mud pike," leading from Granville to Columbus, in the western part of the township, on land now owned by S. C. D. Brock, is located the English Lutheran church, or rather, at present, a union church. Rev. Sensabaugh, a Lutheran, was influential in establishing this church. Not

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being able to raise funds by subscription to build the church, he undertook to build it without assist- ance, but failing to complete it, the citizens of the neighborhood subscribed sufficient funds for its completion, with the understanding that it was to

be free to all denominations; and such it is con- sidered at present. A good Sunday-school has been maintained here since the erection of the church in 1875.

CHAPTER LXI.

MADISON TOWNSHIP.

ANCIENT WORKS-INDIANS-TOPOGRAPHY-FIRST SETTLERS-JOHN LARABEE-MRS. STADDEN'S RECOLLECTIONS-JOHN CHANNEL-BLOCK-HOUSE-ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNSHIP-FIRST SCHOOL-TUNIS COLE AS A TEACHER-MILLS -THE BEAUTY OF LICKING VALLEY-FIRST PREACHERS-FIRST SUNDAY-SCHOOL AND CHURCH-CHURCHES OF THE TOWNSHIP.

T HE territory included in Madison township is an interesting one, from the fact that the first settlement of the county took place here.

Evidences of the "lost race" appear here, as in most other townships of the county. Five mounds are yet visible: one on the farm of George A. Wilson; one south of the Licking, on the farm of D. Wilson; one on the Bowling Green, east of Charles Montgomery; a fourth south of the Lick- ing, on the Shannon farm; and a fifth on the Bowling Green, near the chapel. These mounds are not remarkable for size, and in no way distin- guishable from hundreds of others scattered over the county.

This township evidently has an Indian history, but it is, and probably will remain, unwritten. A camp of the Delaware Indians occupied the Bowl- ing Green; so much is known, but this is about all. What their numbers were, who their chief, what the number of wigwams, how long they were in camp there, etc., are questions that cannot be answered. It is said to have been called by the Indians, "John Elliott's Wife's Town." The signifi- cance or origin of the name is also unknown. Judge Elliott, who had a trading post there, it is said, was a single man at that time, else it might be inferred that it was named in honor of his wife. The probability is that this Delaware town was considerably less than fifty years old. Christopher Gist, who passed through here in 1751 (an account

of which appears in another chapter), does not mention this town in his journal, though he men- tions stopping at two other Indian towns just be- fore arriving at the Licking, at one of which he was joined by Andrew Montour, the son of a Seneca chief. It is very evident that Gist followed the Indian trail from Wakatomika (Dresden) to King Beaver's town, and in doing so, he must have passed through or near the site of this vil- lage. Had the village then been in existence he would very likely have mentioned it.

In February, 1773, David Duncan and David Jones (Chaplain Jones) passed through here on this same trail (an account of which appears else- where), and Jones, in his diary, speaks of stopping at this Indian village; it is therefore evident that the village was established between the years 1751 and 1773. It still existed about twenty years later, when Judge Elliott went there as an Indian trader. In the narrative of William Dragoo, which appears elsewhere, it will be seen that he remembers pass- ing through the Bowling Green prairie, but he says nothing about the Indian village there. This was in 1786. It must, however, have been there at that time, as Judge Elliott is supposed to have been located there some five or six years later; yet in 1792 Captain Samuel Brady with a party of scouts passed through this place, camped on this beautiful prairie and named it Bowling Green, but not a word is said about an Indian village there.

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It is not likely it was there at that time, as a fierce war was then in progress between the whites and Indians, and it is not likely that Brady and his scouts would have ventured to encamp near an Indian village, even had they been allowed to. The village must therefore have disappeared be- fore this time-probably about the time of St. Clair's defeat or before. From these facts it may be concluded that this Indian village existed from twenty to thirty years.

While excavating for a bridge abutment on the east bank of the Bowling Green run, several years ago, seven skeletons of undoubted Indian type were exhumed. This spot was probably the grave- yard for this Indian town. One of these skeletons was six feet three inches in length.

No depredations were committed by these Indi- ans in this part of the country, so far as known. There were no white settlers in their immediate vicinity. No village was in existence on the Bowl- ing Green when the first settlers of this county came; there were a few Indian camps in the Lick- ing and Raccoon valleys, but John Elliott's Wife's Town had disappeared.

A small camp of Shawnee Indians also existed on Shawnee run, on or near the farm of P. N. O'Bannon, which circumstance gave name to the run.

This township is well watered by the main Licking river, which passes through its center from west to east, and the tributaries of this stream, which flow into it from the north and south. The Central Ohio and Pan Handle railroads, and the Ohio canal pass through the township, following the Licking valley. The soil of the Licking bot- toms is rich, warm, sandy loam, and fine gravel, well adapted to all crops, more especially the early crops. There are many indications that this val- ley was once a vast lake, the waters of which were held in place by the soft sand rock at Black Hand. The continued attrition of falling water in time wore away the rocks, and the waters of the lake escaped through the chasm, leaving the rich de- posit of ages, which in places seems inexhaustible. The timber of this bottom consisted mainly of hard and soft maple, sycamore, black walnut and the inevitable buckeye. Under the wide-spreading hanches of these flourished the wild plum, paw-

paw and leatherwood. The lands on either side of, this valley are of yellow clay, interspersed with shale of the same color, and were originally co- ered with a dense forest, principally of oak i giant growth. It will be seen that the townsh; possesses a great variety of soil, which yields : bountiful return to the farmer.

At various places along the Licking bottom wet patches of prairie land, which attracted the fix settlers. The Bowling Green was, perhaps, the most extensive of these., 'It extended a mile c: more along the Licking, and in the spring present- ed a beautiful appearance, being a green lawn, cor- ered with flowers and clumps of bushes, and, late' in the season, with a rank growth of grass. Here it was that the first settlers in the county, Elus Hughes and John Ratliff squatted in 179%. They found a farm ready-made to hand-something very unusual in this country. All they had to de was turn the virgin soil and plant their corn, which they did that year and for several successive years. This was the first corn ever raised by white men within the limits of the county. A mile or more below Newark, on the western edge of Madison township, was another.small prairie. or perhaps more than one, upon which Isaac Stad- den settled and raised a crop of corn in 1800.

Dr. J. N. Wilson, in his history of Newark town- ship, places Isaac Stadden in that township. This is an error. He settled very near the eastern line of that township, but his dwelling, and probably the whole of his possessions, were in Madison His brother's child, born in 1801, was probably the second born in the township; Henry Hughes, su ot Elias Hughes, being the first, not only in the township but in the county. Henry was bom ir 1799.

Mr. William Barrick, now an old resident of Hanover township, thinks that John Ratliff, jr- was the first white male child born in the Licking valley, and his (Barrick's) sister, Amelia, the first white female child; the latter, however, was bom in Muskingum county, near the eastern line of Licking, in 1799. He says John Ratcliff, jr., w>> a "chip off the old block," a harum-scarum, wild. roving fellow, and very fond of hunting; was a'- ways seen with a rifle on his shoulder, from bor- hood. When he grew up and married he movec

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west to Illinois. Out there he lived principally by hunting; hauling his wife and family of several children, and his few possessions, about in a wag- on, and camping in various places for indefinite periods. He was last seen in this situation on one of the great prairies of Illinois, and had been in that locality about a year, but concluded to move; game was probably getting scarce. One of his oxen had died, but, hitching up the cow beside the other ox, he loaded up his family and effects, and moved away over the horizon-bound prairie, with- out road, guide or compass, and disappeared for- ever, so far as his friends in Licking county are concerned. This represents one phase of the pioneer character.

The cabins of Hughes and Ratliff were erected on the Bowling Green prairie, between Montour's Point and the Licking creek, about half a mile above Bowling Green run. These two families, consisting of twenty-one persons, were the only white inhabitants of this township and county until 1800. In the spring of this year Benjamin Green and Richard Pitzer arrived, and shortly after, John VanBuskirk. In September, Isaac Stad- den and family arrived, and, in September, Cap- tain Samuel Elliott came, making the seventh family within the limits of the township.

The marriage of Colonel John Stadden, and Betsey, daughter of the aforesaid Green, which took place on Christmas day, 1800, made the eighth family, which was the whole number when the year closed.

A biographical sketch of each of the above pioneers will be found in another chapter.

The settlers in this township in 1801 were John Larabee, James Maxwell and John Weedman.

John Larabee was one of the most remarkable of the first pioneers of Licking. He was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1760, and was of English descent. His father led a seafaring life, and is sup- posed to have been impressed into the British ser- vice, from which he never returned. John ran away from his uncle, by whom he had been adopted, at the age of fifteen, and entered the United States service at the beginning of the Revolution. He served first as a teamster two years, and then en- tered the ranks as a private soldier, carrying a mus- ket and faithfully discharging his duty to the end

of this great struggle. He participated in many battles, including that of Trenton, at which he had his feet badly frozen. He received an honorable discharge at the close of the war, and during the later years of his life, a pension from the Govern- ment, in recognition of his services. But little is known of his whereabouts after the close of the war until the year 1800, when he is found near Marietta, the father of a family. In the spring of 1801, Mr. Larabee, leaving his family behind, em- barked with others in a canoe, for the rich bottoms of the Licking, carrying some bacon and other sup- plies with them, as a partial subsistence during the summer. A portion of his fellow emigrants came by land, driving the stock, of which Mr. Larabee owned a yoke of oxen and two cows. He landed on the south side of Licking river, nearly opposite the mouth of Bowling Green run, and squatted on land afterward owned by William O'Bannon. Here he found, what was very com- mon in those days, a large, hollow sycamore tree, in which he domiciled for several months. It fur- nished him a room more than ten feet in diameter, and was amply capacious for all his purposes. He cleared the land, raised a few acres of corn, and at his leisure during the summer built himself a cabin. Maxwell, who came with him, was the first school-teacher and first constable in the county, and a noted singer.

Having completed his cabin, and raised his crop, Mr. Larabee returned to Marietta in the fall for his family. These were brought up to their new home, and here they lived a pioneer life for several years. He prospered, and subsequently bought a tract of land of Judge Smith and Thomas Sey- mour, a mile or two southwest from his hollow syc- amore. Mr, Larabee was wholly illiterate, but honest and industrious, and a member of the Dis- ciple church. He died February 6, 1846, aged eighty-six.

Mrs. Isaac Stadden, who lived until July 3, 1870, and died in her ninetieth year, was a woman of remarkable mind and memory, and gave much val- uable and interesting history of the early settle- ment in this county. She says that her husband came to this county and township in the month of May, 1800, in company with his brother, John, and built a cabin on what has since been called

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the Warden, now Jones' farm, near the first canal lock below town. They planted corn just south of their cabin on a prairie, and, after attending to this crop, returned to Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, moving back again in the follow- ing September. Their cabin was further west than any other on the Licking; Captain Elliott built near the big spring, on the Davis farm; Richard Pitzer and Benjamin Green, near together on Shawnee run, near where the State road crosses it; Elias Hughes and John Ratliff, who came two years before, also lived near each other, just below Montour's point, near the residence of C. W. Montgomery. She thinks these were all the cab- ins then in the territory which now constitutes Lick- ing county, but that the Buskirks may have been building theirs up the South fork, as she had no acquaintance with the family for years afterward, and cannot fix the precise time.

Soon after moving into their cabin her husband and brother enclosed the prairie where their corn was planted, for the Elliotts had several horses and cattle running out, which they feared would de- stroy their crop. The fencing was done partly by brush and partly by rails and poles.

One day her husband went out hunting for deer in Cherry valley, discovered the "Old Fort," and came home greatly excited about it, he never having heard of anything like it before. The Mound Builders had not then been heard of among the pioneers, if, indeed, by anybody. The next morning Mrs. Stadden and her husband mounted their horses and rode over to visit this great curiosity; they rode around it on the em- bankment, and were the first white people, so far as known, to visit this ancient work, which has since been visited by wondering thousands. She says that late in November her husband went out one afternoon west of the Old Fort to hunt deer, as he had often done before, this being his favorite hunting ground. He desired to be near Ramp creek very early in the morning, where the deer frequented, that he might kill one before the leaves would get dry, to cause a noise when he was walking through them. He was startled, as he walked through the forest, by the sight of a camp fire, he not being aware of any other settle- ment in this section but the one on Licking. He

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History of Licking County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, Part 87

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