History of Licking County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, Part 89

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

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Two of the head men in the concern were William Mckeever and his bachelor brother, James; both men of sterling integrity, yet full of Irish wit, fun and frolic. Prominent among the names of those on the old force were, also, those of Canly, Jamison and Jewett.

The traveler up the picturesque and beautiful Rocky Fork valley, at the present day, will find, soon after passing the southern line of Mary Ann township, a huge pile of rocks, reminding him of the pyramids of Egypt on a small scale. This

is all there is left of the Mary Ann furnace. This pile of stone-mostly cut sand-stone-has withstood the ravages of fire and time, and stands as a monument of the early days of Mary Ann It is probably twenty feet square at the base, and tapers toward the top; the sides are somewhat cracked, much of the top has fallen in and out, giving it the appearance of a venerable ruin. This was the furnace part, and in rear of it, clinging to the bluff was the large wooden building, destroyed by fire.

In the history of Ohio appears the following. which goes to show that the rugged hills of Mary Ann had been put to certain uses prior to the ad- vent of the first settlers :

"After the organization of Muskingum county, and before the erection of any public buildings, two men were arrested for counterfeiting silver dollars. It was impracticable to send them to jail at Marietta, a distance of sixty miles through the woods, until the sitting of the next court, to which they were bound over. Under these circumstances, without any law except that which necessity creates, they were given in charge of M :. McIntire and Daniel Converse, 'to safely keep till court." This they voluntarily agreed to do, or suffer the penalty themselves

"A cabin was selected, the prisoners handcuffed together. and Mcintire thus addressed them: 'Now boys (pointing :0 the blankets), there is your bed; with your guilt or innocence we have nothing to do; you shall have plenty to eat and drink. but if you attempt to escape, d-n you, I will kill you.' The firm, resolute manner of the address deterred them from mak- ing any attempt. Under the watchful surveilance of these men. who alternately sat by the cabin door, axe in hand, they were safely kept until court, when they were tried and convicted One confessed his crime, and told where the tools were secreted on the Rocky fork, where they were found and brought into court. The one who confessed, received a sentence of twenty- nine lashes, the other thirty-nine, well layed on by Sheriff Rey- mer; the culprits immediately afterward departing for parts un- known.

Robert Concley, one of the settlers on the school lands, lived the life of a hermit, and was unfortunately addicted to his cups. The exact circumstances of his death will, perhaps, never be known, as his partially charred remains were found about a rod from the ruins of his cabin.

Charles Barnes, one of the pioneers mentioned, had, in his early manhood, penetrated this wild regior under Lord Dunmore as far as the Old Chillicothe Indian town on the Scioto, and was present at the celebrated treaty where Logan made the speech familiar to every schoolboy. This campaign was undertaken in the summer and fall of 1774:

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Stephen Giffin was a soldier of the Revolution, participating in the sanguinary battles of German- town and Brandywine. He lived to a ripe old age, and died in Martinsburg, Knox county, in 1838, at the age of eighty-seven.

Henry and Daniel Wilkins, before mentioned among the ea. liest settlers, became owners of a body of land around what is now known as Wil- kins' corners, at the bend of Lost run, in the western central part of the township. Some of this was very fine bottom land, and portions of the orig- inal tract are yet in possession of the descendants of these pioneers. Henry Wilkins erected a grist- mill on the main fork of Lost run, in an early day, probably about 1830, which for many years did the grinding for the extensive settlement that gath- ered around it; but it has not been in operation for some years.

In an early day a road was established eastward from Chatham through here to the furnace, and another road from Newark, north and northeast, up the Rocky fork. Wilkins' corners is the point where these two roads cross, and in 1858 or 1859 Mr. James Randall established a store at this place. Two years later he sold out to William Dudgeon, who succeeded in getting a post office established, called Wilkins' Run post office. Mr. Dudgeon still keeps a store there. He was suc- ceeded in the post office by Robert Stewart, but in turn · succeeded Stewart, and was in turn suc- ceeded by L. J. Westbrook, the present incum- bent. The Grangers started a store here in 1875, but sold out in the spring of 1880 to Messrs. Othe & Wilkins, the present proprietors. These two stores, a blacksmith shop and a few dwellings con- stitute Wilkins' corners.

There is another post office in the northern part of the township, on the Rocky fork, called the "Rocky Fork" post office. Some years ago Mr. Thomas Nichols started a store here, and Mr. Cor- nelius Hilleary erected a saw mill and grist-mill. A few dwelling houses gathered around the store, and the place is called Nicholtown. The post office is now kept at Hilleary's mill. The road along the Rocky fork is narrow and winding, and often crowded between the immense rocky bluffs and the stream. Many mills were erected along this stream in an early day, the ruins of some of

them yet remaining to mark their sites. The whole valley furnishes a prolific crop of immense bould- ers, and great sandstone rocks cropping out of the bluffs, and piled up everywhere in the wildest con- fusion. Some of the farmers, probably from not being able to find a level spot upon which to build, came down into the bottom and erected their houses in clusters on some level patch of ground; hence, places like Nicholtown are frequent.

There are but two churches within the township limits-United Brethren and Disciple. The first of these is located in the southern part of the township, near the line of Madison, on the farm now owned by Benjamin Nichols, whose father, John Nichols, gave the ground upon which the building stands. The foundation of this society was laid at the old Union chapel in Madison township, as early, per- haps, as 1850, or before. A United Brethren con- gregation was organized at this chapel, or prior to its erection; and, in connection with the New Lights, erected the building. This chapel being free to all denominations, the United Brethren could only use it part of the time, and as they grew in numbers, determined to erect a church of their own, which they accordingly did on Mr. Nichols' land. The first building was a frame structure, erected about 1850, and answered all purposes until 1877, when the present neat frame building was erected at a cost of six hundred dol. lars. Among the earliest members of this society were Mr. Ralph Shaw and wife and John Nichols. Rev. David Shrader was instrumental in organizing this congregation, and active in the erection of the church; hence, it was called Shrader's chapel which name it still retains. The present member- ship is about sixty-five. The organization of the Sunday-school is coeval with that of the church, and has been maintained ever since. It is now in a flourishing condition, with a membership of sixty or more.

About 1850, or before, the Protestant Method- ists, in the northern and central part of the town- ship, organized a class, and about 1850 erected a church edifice on the Rocky fork, on the Keys es- tate. Mr. John Gutridge was the chief mover in this church, was largely instrumental in the organi- zation, establishment and erection of the church hence, it went by the name of Gutridge's chapel.

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This gentleman contributed largely of his means, both to the building and support of the church. For a number of years this organization was suc- cessfully continued, but in later years it languished; and finally, in 1872, the church building was sold to the Disciples.

This society was organized by Rev. Allen Hickey, a son of William Hickey, who was prominent in the establishment of the church, as was also Mr. Jacob Miller, who resides near it. This church is in a flourishing condition, with a membership of

thirty or more. A Sunday-school has been gener- ally maintained during the summer, and now num- bers, perhaps, forty members. A blacksmith shop and store have been established near the church, a few dwellings erected and the place is the counter- part of Nicholtown.

The people of this township are many of them yet living in the primitive log cabin, and appear to be but little troubled about the affairs of the great moving world around.

CHAPTER LXIII.

MCKEAN TOWNSHIP.

MOUND BUILDERS-INDIANS-SURVEY-TOPOGRAPHY-FIRST SETTLERS ' AND SETTLEMENTS-FIRST ELECTION-MILLS- FIRST SCHOOLS-VILLAGES-EARLY JUSTICES OF THE PEACE-PROMINENT EARLY SETTLERS-CHURCHES AND RE. LIGIOUS MATTERS.

HE Mound Builders left but few traces in Mc- T Kean township. They were there, however, and built some works, one of which is a mound of small size, standing on the farm originally occupied by Thomas Mckean Thompson, about four miles from the village of Granville. There is also a cir- cular fort containing about an acre, with a shallow ditch around the inside of the embankment, on the land of James Barrick, in the northwest section of the township. It has been much plowed over, and now is barely traceable. It would command a view of the country around it, for miles, were it not for the trees. Half a mile south of it is a small mound, now nearly obliterated by the plow, on the land of the late Edwin Runnels. Mound Builders works abound in all the townships adjoining Mc- Kean.

The Indian history of the township is somewhat meagre. They had an encampment on Cat run, about one mile above its entrance into the Brushy fork, as late as 1812, when they disappeared. A few Indians came to the vicinity of the old en- campment, during or shortly before 1820; but all soon left except a squaw, who occupied one of the

old huts which yet remained in a habitable condi- tion. She also disappeared in a short time, and was the last of the Indian race that had any kind of residence in the township. As late as 1819, an unoccupied wigwam still stood on E. Runnel's farm.

This township was originally surveyed into four thousand acre tracts, it being part of the United States military lands.

It is well watered by Clear fork and Brushy fork and their tributaries. A number of Springs are also found in various parts of the township.

The lands are, for the most part, gently nndula- ting, though there is some flat land and consider- able that is level, while occasionally a hill of more or less altitude is found. It is a township of good and productive land. The timber is in consider- able variety, such as the oak, walnut, beech, hickory and other varieties usually found in the early forests of Ohio.

The land is adapted to the growth of corn, grass and the cereals usually produced in other sections of the county.

The first settler of the township was John Price,

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who, in 1806, settled near the Granville township line, and cleared what, in some circles, has since been called the "Welsh Field," Mr. Price being a Welshman.

In 1807 or 1808, Mr. John McLane settled on the Brushy fork. He was an emigrant from Hun- tingdon county, Pennsylvania, and did not remain permanently, but returned to Pennsylvania. He was one of the largest men that ever settled here, and procured a livelihood by hunting. He is yet remembered by a very few pioneers as a skilful, persistent, and successful hunter. One, "Billy Evans," made the third settler in 1809, or perhaps late in 1808. Abraham Wright, the first justice of the peace in Newark, also settled in Mckean in 1809. In 1810, a revolutionary soldier, named Will- iam Smith, settled at the junction of Cat run and Brushy fork. His son John became one of the first justices of the peace, in 1818, when the town- ship was organized. Among the early settlers who came soon after Mr. Smith, were Daniel, Jacob and Joshua Gosnell, a Mr. Woods, Charles and Henry Bryant, John Armstrong, Fleetwood Clark, John Myers and his father, Hugh Kelly, Peter Snare, Owen Owens, John Parker, Major Pierson, Jabez Smith, Esquire Jaggers, Jacob Wright, Ste- phen Runnells, David Danforth, Samuel Shaw, Elijah Hunt, Thomas Mc.Kean Thompson, Amos Farmer, and others.

The first election in this township was held in 1818, on a white-oak log upon the site of the vil- lage of Fredonia. A hat was used for a ballot box, and thirteen votes were cast. Nearly or quite all the voters were elected to some office.

The first saw-mill was erected by Aquilla Belt, on the Clear fork, above Chatham, in 1817 or 1818. The second was built in 1821 or 1822, by Hugh Kelley, on the Brushy fork, where the road to Mt. Vernon crosses it. Captain Spelman built the third one, a year or two later, a mile above the other, on the same stream. This last was gen- erally known as "Pratt's mill."

The first grist-mill in McKean was erected some- time after the War of 1812, on Clear fork, near the Newton township line, above Chatham, by Abraham Wright, and another sometime later, on the Brushy fork, also near the Newton township line.

The first school was taught by Mr. Samuel Shaw in a house that stood near the present village of Fredonia. This was probably a little before the organization of the township in 1818.

There are two villages within the limits of the township. Fredonia was laid out in 1829 by Spencer Arnold, David Wood, jr., and S. Shaw, and surveyed by Mr. Edwin Runnels. Sylvania was laid out in 1838 by Jesse and Abraham Gos- nell.

These villages are yet quite small, having seem- ingly attained their full growth many years ago. The census of 1880 gives the population of Fre- donia at eighty-six, and that of Sylvania at fifty.

The early justices of the peace were John Smith, Samuel Shaw, Elias Howell, Moses Pier- son, David Danforth, C. C. Jones, W. B. Harding, and B. C. McClain. Those of a later day were William Anderson, Warner C. Carr, Jacob Wright, T. B. Pease, J. L. Johnson, S. C. Scales, William Bowers, Henry Loun, Henry Barrick, Joseph Bar- rick, S. S. Wilson, and Samuel Barrick.

Fredonia was made a post town more than forty years ago, and J. S. Duden appointed postmaster. His successors were T. B. Pease, W. H. Pease, Joseph Wyeth, Thomas Horton, G. W. Ingraham, Mrs. Bellows, Thomas Carpenter, and others.

An office was once established at Cokesbury with W. Gleason as postmaster, but it was soon dis- continued. An office was also established at Sylva- nia, with Peter Buzzard as postmaster, but it, too, was soon abolished.

Abraham Wright, who settled on the Clear fork in 1809, was a man of some prominence. He settled in Newark in 1802, and was, while there, an acting justice of the peace from 1803 to 1806, when he removed to Newton and afterward to this township.

Samuel Shaw was an early teacher, esquire, sur- veyor and an intelligent, influential citizen.

Thomas McKean Thompson was an early set- tler and a gentleman of extensive information and wealth. He served the county as commissioner from 1822 to 1825. He came from Pennsylvania, where he had served a number of years in the capacity of private secretary to Governor Mc- Kean. He gave the name to the township.

Colonel Cornelius Devinney was also a man of

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mark in KcKean. He was a Virginia gentleman of the "old school"-affable and pleasant in his manners, of good conversational powers, and a man of sterling integrity.

Elias Howell was also a leading man. He was well informed, and acquired great popularity among the people. He was collector of taxes from 1824 to 1827; sheriff from 1826 to 1830; State senator from 1830 to 1832, and a member of Congress from 1835 to 1837.

Major Jacob Anderson and Thomas B. Pease held county offices. The former was a commis- sioner three years and the latter treasurer four years.

This township contains five churches at present. Cokesbury chapel, a mile or two above the present village of Sylvania, was the first church organiza- tion in the township. It was an Episcopal Meth- odist, and was organized about 1820. It is not now occupied for religious purposes, but was thus used for a brief period by a society of the Christian Union church, a denomination of recent organiza- tion.

The Baptist church was organized about 1827. They have a good church edifice in Fredonia. Rev. Mr. Wileman was its earliest preacher. He was followed by Elder Berry.

A Congregational church once had an existence in the township. Preaching was sustained some years, first in Fredonia, and afterward in a neat church building in Sylvania, but the society, by rea- son of deaths and removals, was compelled to dis- band years ago. Revs. Rose and Whipple were its early ministers.

There is a Christian or "New Light" church in Sylvania; also one on the Brushy fork. The latter is a fine building.

The Methodists have a chuich on the western borders of the township, erected several years ago in place of Cokesbury chapel; also one in Fredonia. The first named is a neat edifice, called Liberty chapel.

Elders Hughes, Farmer, Gardner and Cotterell, and Revs. Smith and White were among the early- time preachers in Mckean. These clerical gen- tlemen were mostly of the "Old School" Baptists, and New Light or Christian denominations. Elder Amos Farmer, of the former denomination, preach-

ed many years to a small society of the type designated or nicknamed "Hard Shell Baptists,' at Root's school-house on Brushy fork. This society never reached a score in number, and finally ceased to exist.

"Unconditional election and reprobation and the final perseverance of the saints," constituted the gospel of the "Old School" Baptist preachers; and it was proclaimed "without money and with- out price." They exercised their ministerial func- tions without fee or reward. They were mostly illiterate, and their style in the pulpit was of the home-spun order.

Very plain, unpretending teachers they might be called, but as they charged nothing for their labors, and the public were not bound to hear them, there could be no just cause of complaint. They preach- ed just what they believed to be the pure, unadul- terated gospel and nothing else; and did that fearlessly, freely and honestly, regardless of king or country. They laid a heavy hand upon Ar- minianism, tract, missionary, Sunday-school, edu- cational. and temperance societies, and utterly condemned a paid ministry. They went forth to perform the Master's work, they said, like the evan- gelists and apostles of old, without script or purse, and sometimes more than intimated that salaried preachers were of the class of shepherds mention- ed by Scripture writers, who would flee when the wolf approached. Freely they gave the best they had, honestly and in the fear of God, and though they might be mistaken, they could not be regarded otherwise than honest men.

Rev. Isaac N. Walters was a more recent but a popular preacher.

One of the most noted of all the pioneer preachers, who at early times officiated in this township, was the Rev. Joseph Thomas, more gen- erally known as "the pilgrim," who preached in the woods where Fredonia now stands, as well as at Mr. Daniel Griffith's and other places in the vi- cinity, about fifty-fiye or sixty years ago. He was a man of rare eccentricity of character, and had considerable force as a camp-meeting orator. The "Pilgrim" was a leader of the sect commonly called New Lights, and frequently traveled in com- pany with Mr. Walters, who was also a preacher here fully fifty years ago. Few pulpit orators

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could enlist the feelings of a promiscuous assem- bly more thoroughly, or move their symyathies more effectually, than Isaac N. Walters and Joseph Thomas. The former was a natural orator. He was slightly dogmatic, decidedly declamatory, giv- en to efforts at eloquence in his exordiums, by the use of pretty words, and in his perorations, rather long sentences ; he was, however, a very interest- ing extemporaneous speaker. Few were more flu- ent, more eloquent in the pioneer sense of that word, or more popular. The following incident is related as evidence of his popularity :

About fifty years ago, when the Presbyterian church of Newark, and other societies except the Methodists, occupied the upper room of the old court house for preaching purposes, an appoint- ment was made for Rev. James Culbertson, of Zanesville, and also one for Rev. Isaac N. Walters at the same time and place; each, of course, knowiug nothing of the appointment of the other. When the hour arrived the house was full, and the stairs and space around the door crowded. Many belonged to the country, who came to hear Mr. Walters, his fame having gone abroad through all the region roundabout. Rev. Mr. Culbertson stated that he had been invited to preach there at that hour, and rather mildly insisted on doing so; and being the oldest man, Mr. Walters readily yielded in a remark or two, and observed that all who desired to hear him preach might repair to the old market-house that stood on West Main street, fronting the square, between the Palisade building and Dr. Patton's store. The result was that Mr. Culbertson preached to a few dozen people, and Mr. Walters to a very large crowd, which he held for hours in the open market-house.

Joseph Thomas, the pilgrim, was a resident of

Shenandoah valley, Virginia, but remained at home very little. He was an extensive traveler, and published a diary or book of travels; a rather in- teresting work, in which this western country, then in a wilderness state, was described, and many adventures related. He also essayed poetry; his success in this line was not, however, pre-eminent. His uniform practice was to clothe himself in white, the outer garment being usually a long flow- ing robe. He was a sort of Lorenzo Dow preach- er, and as an evangelist attracted a large share of attention. His theological views were Arian, sometimes called Socinian.

More than fifty years ago Lorenzo Dow took this township in his line of travel in the west, preaching but one sermon, however, within its limits. This was at the house of Mr. Driggs, who lived on the road from Granville to Mount Vernon, near the southern boundary of the township, in what was called the "Blanchard settlement." It was a night sermon in a cabin to an audience of about twenty.

The next morning he went to Granville and preached a sermon in the street. He was one of the most eccentric preachers that ever appeared in the county. He was born in Coventry, Connecti- cut, October 16, 1777, and died at Georgetown, District of Columbia, February 2, 1834. He was an extensive traveler throughout this country, and made several voyages to Europe. He began his itinerant life in 1796 as a Methodist.

The pioneers of this township were principally Virginians, Marylanders, Pennsylvanians and Jer- seymen, with a small sprinkling of Yankees. It is an interior township, having no great thorough- fare extensively traveled, no turnpike, canal, rail- road or telegraph.

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CHAPTER LXIV.

MONROE TOWNSHIP.

ORGANIZATION-FIRST OFFICERS-TOPOGRAPHY -- INDIANS-FIRST SETTLERS-JOHNSTOWN-FIRST MARRIAGES-CHURCHES.

"The hills are dearest which our childish feet Have climbed the earliest; and the streams most sweet Are ever those at which our young lips drank, Stooped to their waters o'er the grassy bank." -- Whittier.

M ONROE township was organized in 1812, and included a square block in the northwest corner of the county, embracing the present town- ships of Monroe, Liberty, Bennington and Hart- ford. In 1815 a line was drawn east and west, through the centre of this square and the north half called Bennington. In 1827 Liberty town- ship was created out of the east half of Monroe, leaving the latter township in its present shape. Under the first organization of Monroe-that is, when it was separated from Granville township- Esquire Moses Foster was the first justice of the peace, and C. I. Graves the first constable.

The soil is about the same character as that of St. Albans. The altitude is somewhat greater; the land undulating and sloping to the southeast, is better adapted to grazing than to cereals. In an early day it was well timbered with all varieties of hard wood. It is fairly watered by the Raccoon fork and its tributaries. The head-waters of this stream are in this township.

Few, if any, traces of Mound Builders exist within its limits; but the Wyandot Indians once lived here in considerable numbers. They built a town called "Raccoon Town," a mile or more above Johnstown, on Raccoon creek, where they resided until 1807, when Charles and George Green pur- chased their possessions, and thereafter occupied and cultivated the lands.

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History of Licking County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, Part 89

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