History of Logan County and Ohio, Part 66

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Battle, J. H; O.L. Baskin & Co
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin
Number of Pages: 798

USA > Ohio > Logan County > History of Logan County and Ohio > Part 66

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

For many years during the carly part of the settlement the rewere no roads in the township. the travel being along trails, approx- imating the direction you wished to go, less attention being paid to the points of the compass than to the convenience of the builder, hence these routes quite often brought to mind the adage: "The longest way round is the nearest way home." The first legally constituted road in the township was ent through in about 1830, and ran in a gen- eral northwest course from DeGraff to Bloom Center, crossing the Miami River at the point now spanned by the Moore bridge. This road is now a fine graveled turnpike. In early times the river was crossed by means of a small ferry boat, built by James Moore, of which it is said, that the chances of getting wet were about equal, whether you rode in a beat or waded across. However, during the high water in the fall and spring months, this boat wa of considerable utility. The finest bridge in Logan County is the one crossing

the Miami River immediately west of Logans- ville. It is of the high truss model, and is constructed entirely of wrought iron. Its entire length is 187 feet with two spans, supported at the ends and in the center by solid . masonry. It was built by the Cleveland Bridge and Iron Company during the winter of 1849-80. The masonry by John M. Watters of Jefferson, Ohio. Entire cost 89,376. The work was all done under the supervision of S. A. Buchanan, Civil Engineer for Logan County, and reflects credit upon all connected there- with.

The carly mails were carried on horseback. and reached 'Logansville once each week, during favorable weather. John Dickson kept the first postoffice. It was established about 1830. Lewis Young is the present Postmas- ter. The old mail line from Bellefontaine to Sidney, via Logansville, was long since aban- doned, and now a daily mail is received from DeGraff.

Messrs. Thompson and William Dickson, sons of the original proprietor, in the year 1827, made a plat of a portion of their real estate upon the cast side of the Miami, and this Pinbryo village they named in honor of the celebrated Mingo Chief, whose burning speech to the messenger of Lord Dunmore, in 17:1, has become immortal. Logansville is yet in its infancy. It contains one general store, one drugstore, a church, school, two blacksmith shops and a Grange hall. The history of the lat- ter is as follows: Pleasant Grange, No. 485, P. of 11., was organized on January 29, 1849, with thirty charter members. Its meetings were held in the hall over Young's store for one year, when a purchase of the Presbyterian meeting-house was effected. This has been refitted, and here the society meets on Satur- day evening of each week. The membership now numbers sixty. The succession of Mas- tors is R. J. Smith and John Hannah.

463

HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY

The history of the churches dates from a period near the close of the war of 1812, and is of considerable interest. Early in the sum- mer of the year 1815, an itinerant preacher of the New Light or Christian faith, a denomina- tion having its origan at a camp meeting held at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, near the dawning of the present century, came into the settle- ment, and announced a meeting at the log house of James Moore. At the appointed time the entire settlement turned out, and so much interest was manifested that another meeting was announced. This was followed at intervals of a few weeks duration. by others until about 1824, when the families of the four original settlers: James Moore, Robert Dickson, Alfred Mathews and John Means, united in the formation of the first religious society in Pleasant Township, and not long afterward, a log meeting-house was built in Logansville. A few years later a society of the Presbyterian denomination was formed here, and they united with the Christians in the erection of a comfortable frame church, (now the Grange hall). In this the original organi- zation met for worship until 1826, when the present substantial church edifice at Logans- ville was erected. This society has now a large membership, and in connection a flourish- ing Sabbath School. In point of chronological order the Methodist Episcopal Church ante- dates the Presbyterian. The date of its for- mation was not far from 1828. A hewed log meeting-house was erected at Logansville, and regular religious services organized. For a time the society gave promise of success, and its numbers increased, but eventually the tide set adversely, the membership, by death and removals, decreased, until at last services were discontinued, and the old log chapel went to decay. In the northeastern part of the town- ship stands a pretty little church, built by the Society of United Brethren, a few years since. A small society still worships here.

The school interest has been fostered from the earliest settlement in the township, and the commodious school buildings of to-day, with their cleanly and well kept surroundings, attest the continuance of that fostering care. Immediately subsequent to the close of the war of 1812, a small log schoolhouse was erected upon what is now the MeMullen farm, just East of Logansville, and in this building a man named Wilson commenced a term of school the fall following, all the children in the town- ship were in attendance upon this school.

The schoolhouse was of the most prim- itive character-unhewn walls, puncheon floor. seats and door; greased paper windows, and the wide-throated stick chimney. "And yet," one of the dozen scholars, the only one now living, remarks: "the memory of that old homely schoolhouse is far more pleasing to me than to look upon the huge piles of brick and stone constituting the school build- ings of to-day." Upon the organization of the township, a division into sub-districts was effected, and a number of frame schoolhouses erected. The first of these was erected in Logansville, on the site at present occupied by the brick schoolhouse. Following are the school statistics for Pleasant Township for the school year ending August 31, 18.9:

Whole number of pupils enrolled. 365

Whole amount paid teachers $1,748.23

Whole number of schoolhouses 7

Value of schoolhouses and grounds. $3,500.

The writer has been unable to learn any- thing in relation to the organization of the township, except that the first election was held at the hotel of John Dickson's, in Lo- gansville. Several persons now live in the township who were present at this election, but none of them are able to give the date or the names of the officers elected. The re- cords in the office of the Township Clerk do not date back but a few years.

464

HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

CHAPTER XV .*

ZANE TOWNSHIP-EARLY SETTLEMENT-LIFE IN THE WOODS-PIONEER INDUSTRIES-GROWTH OF SOCIETY-CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS.

Z /ANE is the oldest township in Logan County. The changes of over three- quarters of a century have passed over the Scene until, at this day, looking backward through the receding years, we can scarcely realize the hardships, the trials and the sor- rows of those who made this wilderness to blossom with the flowers of an advancing civ- ilization. Nature, ever bountiful, seemed to lavish her gifts on this section of country. In its primeval state there was presented almost every feature that could delight the simple " sons of the forest," and charm the pioneer. Its beautifully undulating surface, the mighty forest trees of walnut, maple, poplar and oak, the soft murmur of its rippling creeks and bal bling brooks, the lime-stone springs well- ing from the rocks, cool and refreshing-above all, its fertile soil, early attracted the rude savage and later called forth the admiration and energetic impulses of the frontier-man.

The Big Darby Creek takes its source just beyond the north boundary of Zane Town- ship, at a limestone spring on the farm of Joseph Outland. It flows through the north- eastern portion of this township, receiving, near where it leaves, the waters of Mill Branch, and a short distance further south, in Champaign County, the waters of Big Branch, which latter stream drains the back lands of the southern and western portions of Zane township. Mill Branch, itself a consid- erable stream, takes its rise in a low swamp, ahounding in springs, on the western bound- ary line of the township, within a few feet of the hell wat tout the historical Mackachack.

Both streams head in this swamp, which con- tains about 100 acres, and is the largest in this section. This low land seems to be the break in that limestone belt, or water-shed, which traverses the township northwest and southeast. forming the dividing line between the waters of the Scioto and those of the Great Miami. Formerly older swamps abounded in the township, but through the exertions of the progressive farmers of this section they have been drained, leaving a soil rich and exceed- ingly productive. At the present time the land is well cleared and under cultivation. A fine system of tile under-drainage prevails throughout the township, making the tillable land especially valuable. No other township in the State possesses so many maple sugar " camps," forming thereby an industry third only to wheat and corn.

Zane Township is situated in the extreme southeastern part of Logan County, and is composed entirely of Virginia Military land. It was one of four original townships, into which Logan County was divided, and form- orly comprised within its boundaries what is now Perry and Bokes Creek. Its present boundaries are as follows: On the north by Perry Township, on the east by Liberty and Allen Townships, in Union County; on the south by Rush and Wayne Townships, in Champaign County, and on the west by Monroe Township. The chief productions are wheat, corn and maple sugar. Stock rais- ing also receives considerable attention. It contains but one village, that of Middleburg, situated in the north central part of the town- ship, on the highest point of land in this section.

465

HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

Zane Township received its name from Isaac Zane, who was born in 1653. in Virginia, and at an early age was taken prisoner by the Wyandots and carried to Detroit. He grew to manhood among them, and married a squaw of that nation. Soon after the Greenville Treaty he bought a tract of land, consisting of 1.800 acres, where the town of Zanesfield now stands, and died there in 1816.

Perhaps the first entry of land was made by Robert Power, March 12, 1800, and consisted of a 2,000 acre tract in the eastern part of the township. This tract was subsequently divi- ded between Lucas Sullivant and General Duncan Me Arthur.

The first settlements made in either Cham- paign or Logan Counties were indirectly the result of Wagner's campaign on the Maumee. When the army in part disbanded at the Maumee Rapids, after the defeat of the Ju- dians and the consummation of the Greenville Treaty, the sokliers, many of whom came from Virginia and Kentucky, returned to their homes, bearing glorious accounts of the magnificence of this locality. Soon a wave of emigration set in toward the head waters of the Great Miami and the Mad Rivers, bear- ing upon its crest JJob Sharp, the first white settler in either Logan or Champaign Conn- ties. Ile was a native of New Jersey, but entered the northwestern territory from Cul- pepper Co .. Va., locating near Chillicothe in 1800. He remained here but a short time, and then with his family, consisting of Phebe, his wife, his son, Joshua, and daughters, Achsah and Sarah, together with his son-in- Jaw, Carlisle Haines, a mere lad, he started with a four-horse team for the hvad waters of the Mackachack, and arrived in what is now Zane Township, and settled on the farm now owned by Lucius Cochran, on Christmas day, 1801, locating on part of the tract surveyed by Levi Sullivant in 1992. Of that long journey through the then unbroken wilder-

ness, and the hardships endured, none are now living who shared them. Suffice it to say, that immediately upon his arrival, with the help of his family, a rude structure was erected, which served to protect them from the inclemency of the weather. In the spring a small clearing was made, upon which they raised a crop. Thus, in the midst of the mighty forest which stretched for miles in every direction, and in whose shades lurked the Indian and his still more savage compan- ions, the wolf and panther, beleaguered by the terrible privations of pioncer life, then was planted the germ of that civilization which to-day flourishes throughout the length and breadth of this section. Job Sharp died on January 13, 1822. llis wife, Phebe, who sur- vived him a short time, was a remarkable woman, being for many years the only physi- cian in this locality, and well versed, it is said, in those simple but effective remedies that were used in curing diseases which pre- vailed in pioneer settlements. She was high- ly esteemed by all the early settlers, and her dying request was that she should be buried, not in the cemetery, but at the roadside, so that her friends might see her grave when passing, and thus call to mind her benefi- cence. Her request was complied with, and to-day a plain stone, with her initials upon it, marks her resting-place. Both the girls are dead, and Joshua has also departed. In 1802, Esther, daughter of Job Sharp, who had mar- ried Thomas Antrim in Virginia, and had moved with her husband to Chillicothe, cam: up to the little settlement. alone, on horse- back, on a visit to her parents. They were so overjoyed at seeing her that they insisted upon her remaining and sending for her hus- band. This was done, and in 1803 Thomas Antrim, the second settler in this locality, en- tered the township, settling upon his father- in-law's farm. By trade, he was a black - smith, and proved a valuable adjunct to the

HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY,

little community. He was also a Quaker preacher, and thus, side by side with the ad- vance of the settlement, grew up and ex- pande 1 the Christianizing influences of that denomination, its early start showing, in a strik'ng manner, the deep religious character of the first settlers. Thomas Antrim and his wife are both dead. Their son, Daniel .An- trim, was the first white child horn in either I'nion, Champaign or Clarke Counties. Ilis birth took place in 1804, and he died in April, 18:9.

The same year, 1803, John Sharp, brother of Job Sharp, who had remained behind his brother in Virginia, followed after and settled in the immediate vicinity. He began to im- prove and clear his land, barrassed, however, by all the drawbacks incident to pioneer life. Ile reared a family of eight sons and three daughters. He died at the advanced age of 93, universally beloved and respected. Many of his descendants are well-to-do citizens of this township.

County, Virginia. James brought with him his wife, a daughter of Moses Euans. They settled in Zane Township, and put up the first frame house in this township. This frame house was a great curiosity to the whites and Indians. Joseph was a Lieutenant in the war of 1812, and after its close engag- ed in the mercantile business. Ile also served as County Commissioner for many years.

Quite an influx of settlers took place the following year, 1806. In that year came Daniel Garwood with his sons, Jose, Dan- iel and Jonathan, and daughters, Patience and Sarah; John and Joshua Inskeep and their families; Robert Ray and his son, Joseph, all from Culpepper, Virginia; Joshua Outland, from the State of North Carolina, and Joshua Ballinger, from New Jersey. The Garwoods carly became prominent citi- zons of this section: Jose in particular, hav- ing received more than an ordinary educa- tion, was given several positions of trust and honor. He served with distinction in the war of 1812, and was appointed Brigade Inspector under Gen. MeArthur, with whom he was on very intimate terms. All the members of the family are now dead.

Moses Euans, an okt Revolutionary soldier, at the earnest solicitation of Job Sharp, who had known him well in Virginia, and had sent him accounts of the settlement in Zane Township, came up to the Sharp settlement in 1803 on horseback. Satisfying himself in The Inskeep brothers were related by mar- riage to the Garwoods, and came to Ohio in 1805, settling on Darby Plains, near Milford C'entre. Preferring the uplands, they moved to this locality the following year. No man played a more prominent part in the carly history of the township than John Inskeop. lle served as thefirst Justice of the Peace in what is now Zane and Perry Townships, his commission bearing date November 16, 1816, and the signature of Thomas Worthington, Ciovernor of Ohio. He was elected to the Legislature from Champaign County when it cubraced what is now Logan and Clarke Counties, and, in 1816, conjointly with Reu- regard to the fertility of the soil, the excel- lent climate, etc., he returned to Virginia and purchased several military claims. In jsof, with his tamily, he started for Zano Township, but reaching Chillicothe at the bo- gujning of the winter season, he remained t re until the following year, when, with a five -horse team, he started and came through toile settlement, locating his claims on the last tos campied by his grandchildren. i w .s. W Ham and Joseph, served in 1 . 1: I latteras captain. None hi sinh give him. The year 115 Wiesote restent of James and Joseph SUS. They were both lan in Culpepper , ben Wallace, Member of Legislature, and

467

HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

Daniel MeKinnon, Senator, procured the separation of the three counties. He was a local minister, first in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and subsequently in the Methodist Protestant Church, assisting in the establish- ment of the first church of the former denomi- nation in this vicinity. He died in 1859. Ilis son, William Inskeep, now living, was the second male white child born in the county, the date being January 29, 180%; William is also a minister in the Methodist Protestant Church.

Joshua Inskeep also became an influential citizen. Like his brother, he was a minister in the Methodist Church. The brick house that he built-a most substantial structure, now standing on the farm of Alonzo P. West -is perhaps the oklest now used as a residence in the township. It is said of him that it was no uncommon thing for him to entertain on Quarterly Meeting occasions fifty to seventy- five people, such was his hospitality. He is dead. Many of his descendants are still resi- dents of the township.

All of Josiah Outland's worldly effects were transported from Jackson County in North Carolina-the " Pine Tar" State-to Zane Township in a one-horse cart. The trip was over the mountains, and it was six weeks from the time he started before he reached his destination. Ile settled in the extreme northern part of what is now Zane Township, and it is from a spring near his house that the Big Darby takes its rise. He and his wife reared a family of eleven sons and five danghters, all of the former settling around their father in such proximity that it is said they were all able to hear him call his stock to be fed. The names of his sons gave rise to the following happy stanza, cur- rent a quarter of a century ago, and said to owe its origin to the reply of an old lady at a quilting party, who, in answer to the question, What were the names of

Josiah Outland's sons ? replied: There is

Jerry, Rob and John, Bill, Edd and Tom, l'ete, John and Joe, Sam and Ezrio.

The good old dame corrupted the last name slightly-we suppose to preserve the rhyme. Josiah Outland lived to be 86 years of age. He was a member of the Friends' Church.

John Warner and John Cowgill came to the settlement in 1807; Warner was a native of New Jersey, and served in the frontier armies for six years, fighting for some time under Wayne, being in the latter's army when it disbanded ; he immediately passed north into Canada, where he married and settled. Job Sharp had known Warner, having mnet him in the East, and the two had become fast friends, but Sharp had lost sight of him for several years ; accidentally hearing where he was located, through an Indian trader, he sent him a letter, asking him to come to Zane Township and settle. Warner. immediately acting upon the suggestion of Sharp, Jeft his plow standing in the furrow, and, gathering his household effects, crossed to the American side. Placing his goods in a dug-ont canoe, he " poled " along the American shore until he reached the mouth of the Maumee River, passed up the river to the mouth of the Auglaize River, poled up that stream until his further progress was checked by drift- wood, when he secured his canoe, and striking across the country, accompanied by his wife, he reached the hospitable cabin and received a hearty welcome from his old friend, Job Sharp. The next day, Sharp, in com- pany with Warner, took his pack-horses and brought Warner's goods to the little settle- ment. Warner located on Mill Branch, about one mile south of the present village of Middleburg : he and his wife are both dead. Cowgill came from the Old Dominion, and, when he first entered Ohio, located in

HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

Cooluumliona County ; he came to Zane and : ttied in the southern part of the township.

AAbishi Warner, brother of John Warner, joined his brother in Zane Township, in 1×10, after a separation of over twenty y ars : he brought with him his wife, four sons and four daughters ; the names of his . ons were-Isaac, Sammel, David and Jesse. I-qae was a great hunter and trapper. and it is said that many times the family were kept from suffering for want of food by his skill as a marksman ; he was also a scout in the war of 1812. The father, Abishai, served as one of the first Trustees in the township. Sanmel is the only one of the family living, and of all the pioneers, he alone remains-a man years of age ; he has the use of all his facul- ties, and preserves his early vigor to a remark- able degree ; at present he resides in Porters- burg, I'nion County.

Joseph t'url came to Ohio from Lynch- burg, Va., in 1801, and settled in Cohunhi- ana County ; in 1809, he purchased part of the farm of Job Sharp, and. accompanied by his son, Joseph Stratton Curl, he came to the settlement, in this township. Deceived by the deerlicks in this locality that there was an abundance of salt, which was very scarce and difficult to procure, he began to bore for the ame, and it is sail that he spent over $1,000 - a very large sum of money in those days- in h's fruitless endeavor.

Di. John D. Elbert, of Kentucky, wa- the first physician in this township. He cam . in 1509, and settled on the farm now owned by Job Bishop. He was one of the founders of the first Methodist Episcopal Church. and died ( his way to visit a patient. December 2%. 1 8%. Te ep taph upon las gravestone ex- the opinion of those who knew him 1

11. ItWas fo lo : D . Elbert wisscom] 191 1 :00. 46 I met man. a sincere Christian truls to it's od of the poor and affliet. I. J'ai mal with, roffi are."

Samuel Ballinger and his sons, John and Joshua, came here from the Okl Dominion in 1810. They first located on a farm on the edge of what is now Middleburg. Joshua married Delilah, daughter of John luskeep, the first white female child born in the town- ship. She still survives. Walter Marshall, a native of the " Blue Grass" State, came the same year and located in the southwestern part of the township on a tract of land adjoin- ing Dr. Elbert's. He died recently.

Thomas Seger was a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and located in the southern part of Zane in 1811. Hlis house, which had been built in a very substantial manner, was fre- quently used as a block-house, and here the settlers would gather on the rumor of a threatened Indian invasion.

The earliest settlers were noted for their hospitality. Whoever came among them. though a stranger. they shared with him their humble but wholesome food; and, indeed, such was their generosity that ofttimes they would deny themselves for the purpose of ministering to the wants of their guest.

Their domestic economy was simple, bo- cause their wants were few and their demands easily satisfied. Their little log cabin was to them a home whose memory was long cher- ished, even after a better builling had usurped its place: and at this day the oklest inhabitants speak with delight of the many happy moments spent in the pioneer home. In the earlier days of the settlement, the men wore breeches and roundabouts of tanned deerskin, with shirts of homespun. The women wore kirtles of doeskin, while linen and linsey-wolsey served in place of the homespun garments of the men. It was not until 1823 that Lot Inskeep opened the first Store in a small cabin near the old Inskeep sis mill, and sold pins, needles, tinware, and a little English calico. Previous to this time, Ar only goods sold were by an Indian trader at

HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

469

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Logan County and Ohio, Part 66

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Battle, J. H; O.L. Baskin & Co Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin Number of Pages: 798

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Battle, J. H; O.L. Baskin & Co
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin
Number of Pages: 798