USA > Ohio > Morgan County > History of Morgan County, Ohio, with portraits and biographical sketches of some of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 62
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skull" were common. The combatants purposely met to test their muscular superiority, or to settle any differences that might in the past have been exist- ing between them. At this first general muster appeared the Olive Green Independent Rifle Company,. John Whitmore, Captain. They were the observed of all observers-one hundred strong ; large, sinewy, resolute, fierce-looking fellows from the town- ships of Olive, Olive Green, and Centre. Their uniform was entirely home-made and made up of a deep blue hunting shirt fringed with red, and butternut pants. Every man was well armed with a squirrel rifle. The officers wore the same kind of uniform as the pri- vates, and were distinguished from the common soldiers by some outlandish in- signia of rank. They would go through the manual of arms, march and counter- march, and by way of variety give a. little of the manenvers and drill of the Indians. In this way they gained the applause of the spectators. Maj. Em- erson made his debut at this muster, in company with other regimental and staff officers,mounted upon a diminutive, untamed young charger. The Major in person was long and lank, standing over six feet in his stockings, dressed in gaudy regimentals, spurs on his heels and several in his head. The martial music of that day was immense, but dis- cordant, and the Major's horse, not having an car for that kind of music, took fright and started off at full tilt- first down along the front of the regi- ment, then made a like exhibition of himself in the rear. He then charged the center and broke it, routing whole companies. The unceasing musie from a dozen drums and the spurs on the Major's heels, added to the shouts From
a thousand throats, increased the terror of the warhorse and the prolongation of the Major's ride, which came to an ignominious ending in a fence corner. The affair disgusted the Major and he retired from military life. He died many years ago at his home near Luke Chute, in Windsor Township."
The first election held in Bristol was on the 24th day of July. 1819, at the house of Simon Merwin, for the pur- pose of elccting a justice of the peace. This was eleven years after the first settlement in the township by David Stevens in 1808. From some cause the pioneers were not very much interested in the election, as only twenty-four votes were cast. Following are the names :
Jolin Bickford, Andrew Fouts, Sam- uel Shattuck. Daniel Linsey, Lovit Bishop, Anderson Underhill, Jared Andrews, Hugh Osborn, Ansel Taylor, Thomas Jenkins, John McCollum, Will- iam Rowland, Robert Rowland, Rich- ard Jenkins, David Sproat, Benj. W. Talbot, William Fordyce, Archibald McCollum, JJoseph Devereaux, Lemen Fouts, George IIerring, Asher Allen, Thomas Stevens, David Stevens.
At an election held two years after, June 30, 1821, thirty-six votes were polled, showing either a small increase in the population or a decided lack of interest in politics in 1819. At this election the following electors appeared for the first time and voted :
Alexander Martin, D. McAllister. Andrew MeAllister, Stanton Fordyce, James Taylor, Phillip Moore, James Davidson, Abraham Davis, Alex. Vaughn, Jesse Gibbs, James Finley, Levi Whaley, John Knox, Dan Martin, John Parmiter, Samuel Fonts, Edmund Murduck, Thomas Nott.
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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OMO.
At an election held in August of 1822, the following additional persons cast their ballots :
Chaumey D. Grey, Daniel Pronty, Job Kennison, Lovit Cady, William Hemp- field, Seth Andrews, Wilkes Bozman, Ezra Kennison. Ezra Osborn, Isaac Whitehouse, Peter L. Lupardis, Thomas MeGrath, Ebenezer Ellis, Zadock Dickerson.
In 1824 the following additional per- sons are found upon the record as par- ticipating in the affairs of the township:
Adrial Huzzey, David Howard, Lot Workman, William Murray, Jonathan P. Lawrence, William Iloit, Andrew Hossom, Thomas Knox, Charles Davis, James Howard, Mordecai Bishop, Alvin Fuller, Thomas Rowland, A. G. Grubb, Philip Bonham, William Barr, Thomas Carlin, Daniel Lawrence, Benjamin Taylor, Uriah Martin, Absalom Fouts, Job Armstrong.
The above undoubtedly gives the names of nearly all the settlers up to 1825. A large portion of them were from the state of Maine, while the nativity of the balance was pretty equally distributed among the following states: Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
THE VILLAGE OF BRISTOL .*
Bristol Township, with all its enter- prise. energy and wealth, so promi- mently manifested in its whole history, has failed to build up a village of any considerable importance within its borders. The only place of note to be found in the township is the village of Bristol, laid out in 1831 by Thomas Stevens. It contains in its survey about fourteen lots, with the necessary streets and lanes running through it for
the convenience of its inhabitants. It is on the Barnesville road, about six miles from McConnelsville, and is the . central business point of the township. It is in the suburbs of this village where stood for more than fifty years the old Bristol meeting-house-about the first house built for public worship in the county. This village of Bristol has failed to flourish and spread itself to the extent contemplated by its venerable and public-spirited proprietor. Some envious and evil-disposed person, full of expedients to blast the good name, fame, and prospects of the embryo village, and being moved in his hatred and ill will by that evil spirit that seems to have control of the human heart, put into circulation a report that some of its inhabitants had a taste for mutton, and mutton they would have, whether in a legitimate way or not. These out- side barbarians who had lost their mutton, instead of leaving their ninety and nine unlost sheep and going forth in a friendly way in search of the lost one, in their hatred and contempt of the villagers gave the town, just bloom- ing into importance and notice, the con- temptible name of Muttonburg, by which name it is now known far and near and will so continue to be known and called, it is feared, until the Angel Gabriel sounds his last trump.
RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
The early settlers of Bristol were men of excellent morals and who had in their former lives received religious ad- vantages. Many of them had been members of some religious organization, and in their new homes they sadly felt the need of church facilities. As soon, however, as a little settlement had been formed they were usually visited
* From Gaylord's Reminiscences.
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by some itinerant minister and services were held at some cabin accessible to all. The first of these pioneer minis- ters in Bristol was Rev. Levi Reeves, who held meetings in the homes of William and Stanton Fordyce and Cas- per Hollenbeck. Alvin Fuller was an early preacher of the Baptist faith. He was followed a few years later by Rev. Russell. Rev. Samuel Baldridge was the first to minister to the spiritual wants of the Presbyterians. These missionaries preached to the people long before the organization of any church. They were men very zealous in their master's service, and endured many hardships and privations. It is said of Rev. Baldridge that "he lived near a Master whom he obeyed." Humility was one of the salient points in his character. When he prayed on a Sab- bath morning he and his hearers were bowed low. He preached as one with a message not his own. There was no doubt, no hesitation, no doctrine of probabilities in any of his teachings.
Rev. John Chapman, or " Appleseed Johnny," or "Johnny Appleseed," as he was familiarly known among the pioneers, was a man remarkable for the depth and sincerity of his piety. A large portion of his life was devoted to missionary labor among the new settle- ments. Hle frequently was barefooted, but never without an abundant supply of appleseeds in his pocket, which he distributed among the early settlers. Some of the oldest orchards in this and other portions of the state are said to have been planted by him. He left this part of the state about 1840, an old man, and it is said that he contin- ued to preach and plant appletrees be- yond the pale of civilization until he died. In 1816 he planted a large
orchard on the farm now owned by William Argo, in the western part of the township, for a gentleman by the name of Fuller. In 1818 Fuller sold the farm to a Massachusetts gentleman by the name of Johnson, who placed the prop- erty in charge of an agent. On visiting it in 1822 he was somewhat surprised to find that his young orchard had been transferred to a farm on Bear Run.
Rev. Adrial Huzzey was an expounder of the faith of the New Lights, an or- ganization now extinct in the county. In connection with his ministerial la- bors he carried on shoemaking, and was frequently found plying both vocations at the same time. He was one of the earliest ministers in the township and a man of many eccentricities. He must have been among the first to settle in the township, as Elijah Stevens says that he made shoes for his father's family in 1810. In those days it was not an uncommon sight to see women going to church barefooted, and if any of them were so fortunate as to have shoes they usually carried them in their hands until near the place of meeting. A venerable pioneer says : " I attended church at the Old Bristol Meeting-House when only five women in a large con- gregation had shoes."
Bristol Meeting-House .- This was one of the first churches erected in the county. In it for many years the pioneers were wont to assemble, and the spot where it stood is hallowed by many associations. It was erected in the year 1822. It was built by the early settlers and was used by all de- nominations and frequently for other purposes. It was quite an imposing structure for those days. It was con- structed of yellow-poplar logs which were neatly hewed. It was known by
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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO.
some as the New Light Church, there being many of that belief in the im- mediate vicinity, and the Rev. Adrial HIuzzey, the expounder of the tenets of that faith, being one of the first to hold meetings there. It stood near where the Disciple Church now stands. It was destroyed by fire about 1870.
Christian Church .- In the early times the people living in the immediate vi- cinity of what is now New Bristol, or Muttonburg, as it is generally known, were adherents of the Christian Church until they became members of other denominations. Their last meeting was held at "Old Bristol Meeting-House " about 1855. About the year 1833 Samuel Adams and a few others moved into the vicinity, and made the initial effort in the formation of what is now the Christian Church. They met from house to house until the erection of a church about two miles east of Old Bristol. This house was eventually va- cated and Old Bristol Meeting-House became their place of worship until it was burned. They then erected another church in the immediate vicinity. Rev. John Beard was the first pastor. He was succeeded by Revs. Dunn and ('Kyle. Gardner, White, Roswell, Franklin and Bingman were prominent revivalists.
Bristol Presbyterian Church This church was established in the sum- mer of 1835 by those who had been members of the same denomina- tion in Western Pennsylvania and Vir- ginia. After the erection of a church building 25x30 feet, they applied to the Presbytery for admission. The Rev. James Moore was sent by the Presbytery to effect the organization. October 29, 1835, Rev. Moore preached to them, and after the services the fol-
lowing persons were received: Thomas Alexander, Hester Alexander, George Henderson, Mary Henderson, John Miller, Jane Miller, Hugh Scott, Sarah Scott, Mary Moore, Allie Henderson, Jane Henderson, and Abigail Coalman. March 5, 1836, George Henderson and John Miller were ordained and installed ruling elders. In November of this year the sacrament was admin- istered for the first time by Rev. Will- iam Wallace. In September of the following year Rev. John Arthur be- came the pastor. June 28, 1839, he was succeded by Rev. James C. Sharon, who remained until the autumn of 1842. In the spring of 1843 Rev. Benj. I. Lowe was employed. He re- mained one year. The pulpit was then vacant until 1846, and that year Rev. Thomas Smith came, remaining until October, 1851. In November of 1851 Rev. John P. Caldwell was installed. Under his pastorate the church thrived to such an extent that a new building was needed, and in 1853 the present structure was erected at a cost of about $1,300. In 1856 Rev. Caldwell left, and the church was without a pastor until December 26, 1857, when Rev. W. M. Grimes was employed. He re- mained until 1860. In October of 1862 Rev. C. C. B. Duncan was called. He remained three years, after which Rev. Grimes returned. He was suc- ceeded by Rev. C. W. Courtright, N. C. Helfrich, W. M. Grimes, C. B. Tay- lor, J. A. Baldridge and E. W. Fisher, the present pastor, who was called September 1, 1883. The present mem- bership is about 150. The following have officiated as elders: George Hen- derson, John Miller, W. H. Smiley, William Henderson, W. G. Henderson, Hugh Boyd, Joseph McDonald, Samuel
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Reed, James Aiken, John Henderson, John Knight, Solomon Rowland, Hugh Ogilvie, Robert M. Henderson, Mc- Cracken Wilson, and Wilson Scott.
Mt. Zion Church .- Mt. Zion Church, of Bristol, has been from its organi- zation one of the strongest country churches in Morgan County. At the same time it is one of the oldest, having been organized by John Hammond in 1819. The records having been lost, it is impossible to give the names of the original members, but among them were the Hammonds, Devols, Murphys, Ranersons, Cuddingtons, McCartys, Smiths, Harmons, and others. James Abbott was the first class-leader. The first church building was of logs; it was built in 1821. The present struc- ture was erected in 1850; it is 38x4+ feet, and cost $1,200. The present membership is about fifty. The society has a flourishing Sabbath-school of fifty pupils. Of this church, W. D. Mercer says : "There is probably no country church in the state that so many people will call their spiritual birthplace."
Mt. Carmel Church .- Mt. Carmel Church (Methodist Protestant), is lo- cated two miles northwest of Mt. Zion Church. It was organized in 1827, and a log house built for a place of worship. Nathan Coleman, James Howard and Alexander Smith were among the prom- inent carly members of this organiza- tion.
Lebanon Church .- This society was organized and a building erected in 1830. Elijah Stevens and - Wort- man were the leading members.
Bristol Grange No. 80 was organized in 1876 with thirteen charter members and William Chambers as master. At one time the order was quite prosper- ous, and had one hundred members.
The society has a fine hall, the lower part of which is occupied as a Grange store. The first officers, after the erec- tion of the building, were John Hender- son, master ; Solomon Rowland, secre- tary; James Scott, treasurer; John Whitney, overseer.
THE PARMITER FAMILY.
The Parmiters are of English de- scent. The name was originally spelled Pahinter, the present orthography of the name being quite modern. JJohn D. Parmiter, one of the pioneer set- tlers of Bristol Township, was born in Massachusetts in 1779. When a young man he was married to Hannah Rowe. and shortly afterward they settled in Hancock County, Maine. There he was engaged in farming until 1813. In the spring of that year he decided to emigrate with his family to the " Ohio Country," the Scioto Valley having been determined upon as his future home. Accordingly, he loaded into his one-horse wagon his family, consisting of Mrs. Parmiter and six children, and in due course arrived safely at Zanesville. Here he was per- snaded by a man named Varnum, who had previously settled on Meigs Creek, to change his plans and locate in the valley of the Muskingum, instead of on the Scioto. He passed the winter with his family at or near where Unionville now is. There were then about six families on Meigs Creek. In the spring of the following year (1814) he leased and settled upon an nnimproved piece of land in section 3. Meigsville Township.
The family were poor, and their pri- vations and inconveniences were many. They lived five years on this place. Mr. Parmiter then removed to section 34, Bristol Township, where he bought
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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO.
twelve acres of land, for which he paid $30. In 1830 he removed to a farm of 80 acres, which he cleared and im- proved, and, by the daily labor of him- self and sons, managed to pay for. The price of the farm was $300, for nearly all of which he went in debt. A debt of that magnitude, in pioneer times, when the scarcity of money was great, was more formidable than one many times larger would appear to a modern farmer. Mr. Parmiter was a kind-hearted and liberal man, and was warmly esteemed by all who knew him. His wife died in 1838. He reached the ripe age of ninety-four years, and crossed to the other shore in November, 1872. He was the father of six sons and six daughters.
John Parmiter, Jr., son of John D. Parmiter, is one of the few people now living to whom pioneer life was a reality. He was born June 8, 1809, in Hancock County, Maine. His early
life was a continuous lesson of hard- ship and toil. He never had a pair of shoes until he was thirteen years of age, and went to school barefooted during one winter. He remained at home until he attained his majority. He then learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked for ten years. In 1837 he purchased the farm on which he has since resided. He has been a prosperous farmer and is a most worthy citizen. In 1839 he married Elizabeth Bradley, daughter of John Bradley, an early settler of this township. She was born in Virginia in 1821. Their union has been blessed by six children -Joseph, Nancy (deceased), Benjamin, Mary D., Henrietta (Brown), and Sarah J. (Bowen). Mr. Parmiter has never been an office-seeker. In early times he was a captain of militia. He was justice of the peace for six years, and is an elder in the Christian Church, to which he has belonged many years.
CHAPTER XXVI.
UNION.
ORGANIZATION IN 1821-FORMERLY A PART OF DEERFIELD-SURFACE AND DRAINAGE-LAWLESS CHARACTER OF A FEW EARLY SETTLERS-SLOW PROGRESS OF IMPROVEMENTS-THE QUIGLEYS AND THE CORNERS-MRS. QUIGLEY AND THE BEAR-NAMES OF EARLY SETTLERS-FAMILY SKETCHES-EARLY EVENTS-THE FIRST MILL-FIRST FRAME HOUSE-FIRST BRICK HOUSE-THE FIRST ELECTION-VILLAGES-RINGGOLD-ORIGIN AND HISTORY-MORGANVILLE AND ROSSEAU.
Union Township prior to the erection of Morgan County was attached to Deerfield, and was among the last cre- ated to make one of the subdivisions of Morgan County. At the October term of the Court of Common Pleas, in 1821, the following order was issued : "Whereas, It appears that a new town- ship, by the name of Union, has been created by the auditor of Morgan County ; ordered, that said township be entitled to two justices of the peace, and that the electors of said township meet at the house of Garrett Caviner, in said township, on the first Monday of December, and proceed to elect two justices of the peace for said township." The surface is hilly, but the township is well watered by the branches of Wolf and Sunday creeks. The former with its numerous branches drains a large scope of territory in the counties of Washington and Morgan. One of its branches runs through Union and finds its heads in Deerfield. It derives its name from the great member of wolves found among its hills by the trappers of early days who visited its waters. Sunday Creek is a branch of the Hock-
ing River, and finds some of its head springs in the township, and one of its branches runs through its south western border. It was so named by the gov- ermment surveyors, who, in running one of the range lines, pitched their camp upon it on Sunday. The next day, in the progress of their work, they camped upon a creek further north, and gave to it the name of Monday, and theu finish- ing their line in that direction they had no further use for the days of the week, so far as their application to the names of creeks was concerned.
The township being the latest settled and somewhat out of the way of early immigration it became infested by a gang of outlaws who made their ren- dezvous upon the banks of Sunday Creek. Their operations in stealing horses were carried on for several years and was extensive, and the gang were not entirely broken up until the settle- ments became too dense for their safety and success. In fact it was not until after the indefatigable efforts of W. J. Ramsey, prosecuting attorney of Mor- gan County, that they were entirely dispersed. For a long time the region
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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO.
was known as "Horse-thief Valley," and a lost horse from almost any part of the state might be traced and found somewhere upon the waters of Sunday Creek.
For many years the greater portion of Union was an unbroken and undisturbed forest, the resort of hunters and trappers. In these wild forests such hunters as Abe and Bill Hughes, the Ward's, Love's and Priest's carried on for many years un- molested the hunting and trapping of wolves, bear, deer and other wild game. But the construction of farms, and the disappearance of game, robbed them of employment and they departed for territory more fitted to their habits of life.
Of the early settlers of this township Belmont County furnished a consider- able number. Upon upper Wolf and Sunday Creeks the first settlers are said to have been Irish, or largely so. Some of the older townships of the county also made valuable contributions to its population.
John Quigley and William Corner, in the year 1811, came to what is now Union Township and entered the first quarter section of land entered in the township, each having an equal interest. The following winter they built the first cabin, and in the spring Quigley occu- pied it. Corner, however, did not make the township his home until February of 1816, at which time he settled on Buck Run, near Wolf Creek. He was one of the township's most prominent citizens and was largely identified with its development. A few years before his death he removed to Malta, where he died in 1881. He was a native of Cheshire, England, and was two years of age at the time of his father's settle- ment in Windsor in 1796. Mrs. Quig-
ley was a sister of William Corner. She was a fine type of the pioneer woman, and it is said that she gave the town- ship its name. The following incident in their early life in Union was furnished the author by her brother, William, and is evidence that some of the pioneer women were possessed of as much cour- age as their husbands.
Their cabin was situated on the Bot- tom. One day while Mr. Quigley was at work on the opposite side of the creek, where the house north of Wolf Creek Church now stands, Mrs. Quigley came with her knitting to where her husband was at work. While they were sitting on a log they were some- what startled at seeing a bear approach- ing. Quigley called the dog from the house and put him on the trail, when both disappeared in a small ravine. It was a peculiarity of the dog that he never barked; but soon a noise was heard as if there was a contest for the right of way. The sound was followed until they came to Hemlock Run, where the bear was discovered making efforts to climb a tree, but the dog would pull him back, but was careful to avoid his embrace ; but finally he succeeded in making his way up a large walnut. Quigley then started for William Oliver's, a distance of five miles, for a gun, while Mrs. Quigley and the dog remained to watch and keep the bear up the tree. On his return with Uncle Oliver and the trusty rifle, bruin came unceremoniously to the ground, and as a prize of value was borne home on a pole suspended between them.
It is at this time difficult to give much of the personality of many of the early pioneers. The fact that they were early settlers is about all that is known of them. Edward Miller, John
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UNION.
P. Rusk, Henry Hone, William Ward, James Grubb, Isaac Harris, Aaron Wood, Samuel Short, John Tanner and Robert Hainsworth were among those who settled early. The history of some of these pioneers is to be found in the chapters devoted to other townships.
George Coler was one of the early settlers. He was witty, sharp, and shrewd, and withal a very intelligent man. At the time that Mr. Amos was laying out Ringgold he assisted the sur- veyors, and it became necessary for one of the chainmen to wade the creek. Coler suggested that it would be a sav- ing of time to strike an air lie and work it out by algebra.
Daniel Davis, from Washington County, Pa., came to Belmont County, Ohio, in 1818, and in 1827 to Union Township, Morgan County, where he settled on an unimproved place, moving into a house without door or window. Ile was a farmer, and died in 1859. By his first wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Carrol, he had six children, of whom two are now living-Carrol, of Union Township, and Joshua, of Malta. Hle afterwards married Mary Allnan, by whom he had eleven children.
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