USA > Ohio > Muskingum County > History of Muskingum County, Ohio ; with illustrations and biographical sketches of prominent men and pioneers, 1794 > Part 18
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Daniel and Allen McLain came May 2d, 1806; "their first work was on Wm. Mont- gomery's tavern," the first frame house built in Zanestown. They also did the wood work on a brick house built in Zanestown. They also did the wood work on a brick house built the same year for Monroe and Convers on the southeast corner of Main and Fifth streets. This was the first brick house built in Zanestown.
John A. Cochran arrived in the spring of 1806, and was employed by General Green to erect a frame dwelling at the head of Fountain alley.
Samuel Chapman came in the summer of this year and built a frame house for Benjamin Tup- per. This is thought to have been the second frame building erected in Zanestown.
Richard Brookover worked at his trade dur- ing this year. His family lived with Wm. Langley, in a cabin which stood in Fountain al- ley in the rear of the Courier office as now lo- cated. Here his daughter, Increase, was born.
June 8th, 1808, Gilbert Blue and his young bride arrived from Pittsburg, Pa. In 1820 he erected a frame dwelling for Rev. David Young. on the southwest corner of Second and Main streets. In 1824 he built a three-story frame for a hotel for Fulton & Parker on the site now oc-
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HISTORY OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO.
cupied by the "Clarendon"; and in 1845-6 he and Robert Hazlett built the steamer "Put- nam."
Joseph Hocking came in 1808; during the winter of 1809-10 he surperintended the carpenter work on the residence of Alexander M. Laugh- lin, corner of Sixth and Market streets.
Captain James Hampson was in Zanestown in 1801, but did not locate here until June, 1809, when he became one of the contractors for the erection of the State House. He was subse- quently well known as a contractor.
William Blocksom came in 1809 and was asso- ciated with James Hampson in building the State House. In 1817 he formed a partnership with Mr. - Fracker, and they built many houses.
James Millis came in 1820 : his first work was on the Northrup warehouse at the foot of Fifth street. In 1822 he built for himself a two-story brick dwelling on the southeast corner of Sixth and Marietta streets. In 1828-9 he built the first brick M. E. Church (Rev. Nathan Emory, pastor), and did the carpenter work on the sec- ond M. E. Church in 1842. Mr. Millis was ninety-five years old January 30, 1880, and oc- cupied the house No. 96 South Sixth street, built by him in 1822.
CARPET WEAVERS .- The first person to en- gage in carpet weaving, in 1812, had a room on the northeast corner of Fourth and Spruce streets. In 1818 James Covington was doing carpet weaving one and a half miles west of Putnam.
In 1818 Moses Dillon built woolen mills at the mouth of the Licking river and put in a patent loom for making all wool ingrain carpets and coverlets. The style of those goods was known as the "Rose and Thistle" pattern. One of those carpets was presented as a wedding gift to Mrs. Dr. Washington Morehead, March 21st, 1830, and seems to have been a very notable event, as mention is made of it in several places in old chronicles.
CLOCK MAKERS .-- Richard and George Reeve, Sr., were engaged in this and the jewel- ry business as early as 1809. Their place of business was on Third street near the site now occupied by Jones & Abbott's foundry. They made the old time tall case clock, to stand on the floor-one for Dr. Increase Mathews, one for John McIntire, and one for L. P. Bailey. The latter is in good preservation and bids fair to last a century. About 1815 the firm removed to what is now No. 92 Main street, and were subsequently succeeded by Harry Safford and Charles Dickinson. During this year Francis Cleveland and John Bliss were in the business on Main street opposite the court house. Mr. Charles Hill was in their employ and subse- quently formed a partnership with Mr. A. C. Ross in the jewelry and watch making busi- ness. They were, also, superior copper plate engravers, and made many of the "shin-plaster" plates.
X
COTTON FACTORY .- In 1829 Jeremiah Dare built a machine shop in the upper story
of his woolen factory, having sent to Baltimore, Maryland, for skilled work- men-Elias Ebert, Benjamin J. Wood, George Martin, - Shipley and John Pardington- and constructed the machinery for a cotton fac- tory which was built in the building now used by Duval & Co., northeast corner of Third and Market streets. Mr. Dare and his son John D. Dare operated this mill until 1832, when they turned the lower story into a machine shop, where they made cotton and wool manufacturing machinery. They made cotton yarn and bat- ting. Cotton yarn was legal tender hereabouts in those days. Their store was in a one-story frame building that stood on the northwest cor- ner of Third and Main streets, the site now oc- cupied by Joseph Crosby's grocery store. Dur- ing the month of December, 1846, a subscription was taken among the business men for the pur- pose of establishing a cotton mill on a larger scale, and a company known as the Zanesville Cotton Mill was inaugurated with the following stockholders :
John A. Adams, George A. Jones, Wm. Gali- gher, Nathan Gattrell, Stephen R. Hosmer, Adam Peters, James L. Cox, Samuel Cox, E. E. Filmore, David H. Lyman, J. V. Cushing and Daniel Convers, subscribing, together, four- teen thousand dollars, and Richard Huff sub- scribing seven thousand dollars ; a total of twen- ty-one thousand dollars.
The company organized by electing the fol- lowing officers: President, John A. Adams ; Secretary, David HI. Lyman ; General Superin- tendent, Richard Huff.
The first month's work reported, beginning January 10th, 1847, and ending February 6th, 1847, was as follows :
Yarns, pounds of, 6,409 ; batting, pounds of, 2, 115 ; made on 500 spindles. Mr. Huff informs us that he could start the cotton at the picker and in three hours have it ready for sale.
× In 1854 Mr. Galigher built a large cotton mill on the southwest corner of Underwood and Zane streets, and manufactured sheeting, batting and varns, continuing in the business until his death, February 17, 1860. The mill was subse- quently sold to Mr. E. Mathews. The machin- ery was purchased by Richard Huff, a skilled workman, and superintendent of the Zanesville Cotton Mill. Mr. N. White superintended for Mr. Galigher, and was well skilled in the busi- ness. .
The date of sale of the Zanesville Cotton Mill does not appear from the records at our ser- vice, but under the subsequent management it appears that " the purchasers met at the office of George James, in June, 1855, and George James acted as chairman, and William Taylor as secretary." "The capital stock, for the present, is fixed at the same, twenty thousand dollars, to be divided into shares of five hundred dollars each; each stockholder to be allowed
ONS. DRY GOODS.102
STORE OF L. WILES & SONS, Zanesville, Ohio.
In 1837 Lawson Wiles, the present senior member of the house, settled at Zanesville. He was born in Frederick county, Maryland, July 3, 1814. During the spring of 1815 the family removed to Springfield township, Muskingum county. Here were passed the days of boyhood and youth, receiving the ben- efits of a practical education. In his seventeenth year he began life as a teacher in one of the subscription schools. From 1831 to 1837 during the winter season he officiated as a teacher, and in the summer profitably employed his time upon a farm. In 1837 Mr. Wiles made a purchase of a small stock of groceries, and began in business in what is now the Ninth ward. This store was located on the Main street at that time, and a removal was subsequently made to a larger store, oppo- site the old Market House, on the corner of Putnam avenue and Madison street. The business grew steadily from that
time until the present. S. L. and C. C. Wiles, who were edu- cated to business pursuits from their earliest years, were admitted to partnership in 1870. The new firm, abandoning their old business quarters in Putnam street, moved to what is commonly termed Zanesville, and embarked in an exclusive wholesale and retail dry goods trade at No. 93 Main street, where a prosperous trade was transacted up to 1871. That year they occupied the old building on the present site of the new brick. This structure was completed in 1876. It is three stories in height, one hundred and eight feet deep, and twenty feet wide. It is undeniably the best adapted for the purpose for which it is intended of any similar establishment in the city. All goods are purchased at a low figure, imported and otherwise, principally for cash, and purchasers are assured of low prices and reliable goods.
THE SHINNICK BLOCK, Main Street, Zanesville.
IN 1839 W. M. Shinnick, the senior member of the firm of Shinnick & Sullivan, first settled in Zanesville. For a period of years he was engaged in the manufacture of rope, in connec- tion with his brother, who had previously moved to the town. In 1848 he embarked in the stove and house-furnishing trade, in which he has since remained. To Mr. Shinnick is due the eredit of Zanesville having one of the largest stove foundries in the State. It was projected in 1865 and completed in 1869, at an estimated cost of $75,000. This is to-day, and has been from the start, one of the soundest institutions of the West. In 1880 John C. Sullivan was admitted to partnership in the stove and house-furnishing department of Mr. Shinnick's ex- tensive business. In March of 1882, the firm began the erec- tion of a new building, where ample storage capacity could be
secured, due to the vast proportions their trade was assuming. The Shinnick Block was completed at the close of the summer of 1882, and is one of the finest business blocks in the city. It was erected at a large cost; is three stories in height, with a front of seventy-five feet, and is ninety-five feet in depth. The store was opened to the public September 5th, 1882. The third floor is intended for a public hall. It is well ventilated, well lighted, contains twenty-five large windows, and is one of the public halls in the city. It was leased by the Knights of Labor, prior to the erection of the building, and is elegantly furnished. Mr. Shinnick is Vice President of the First Na- tional Bank. He. also holds a prominent position in the Masonic fraternity.
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HISTORY OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO.
one vote for each share of stock paid up." The
following is a list of the shareholders :
Bazil Burton, eight shares of $500 $4,000
Jesse Duvall, eight shares of $500 4 000
S. R. Hosmer, four shares of $500. 2,000
Wm. Galigher, four shares of $500 2,000
J. A. Adams, four shares of $500. 2,000
Samuel Clark. four shares of $500 2,000
George James, four shares of $:00. 2,000
J. Galigher, two shares of $500. 1,000
Adam Peters, two shares ( f $500
1,000
Total, forty shares $20,000
THE STAR COTTON MILLS COMPANY gave a deed of trust to W. A. Graham and C. W. Pot- win, which was foreclosed and the property sold to Hoover and Allison, the present proprie- tors, February 27, 1879. R. A. Kelly, general manager, and General Artemus Schofield super- intendent. The cotton is shipped from Mem- phis and Nashville, Tenn., and other choice markets in the South. The appliances for pre- paring the cotton for working into the products of the mill are among the best ; the mill contains eighteen cards and two thousand spindles. The products of the mills are 500 pounds carpet woof, 300 pounds of rope, in various sizes, 250 pounds seamless bags and 400 pounds wrapping twine, per day ; and the firm employ seventy-five hands ; the monthly pay-roll is about $1.400. This industry has had many a struggle since its inception, but, judging from the business now done, success is crowning the enterprise. It is among the most important of the many manu- facturing establishments in Zanesville.
DAMS .- About 1810, Isaac Zane, son of Jona- than Zane, yielding to the advice of his father, built the first dam at Zanesville. The tradition is that the elder Zane promised his son a half in- terest in the dam if he would build it. To com- plete the work, Isaac had to borrow two thous- and dollars, to secure which he mortgaged a thirty acre tract of land, owned by him. When the dam was completed, the old gentleman came over from Wheeling, on horseback, and sold the dam to Moses Dillon and Sons, put the money into his saddle-bags and returned to Wheeling, leaving his son two thousand dollars in debt and no interest in the dam. The effect of this act, if the story is true, was to build another damn, in the minds of those who sympathized with young Zane. The former was called " the Licking Dam," and the latter was prefixed with an invocation to Deity.
The next dam was provided for by charter, as follows :
"Charter granted John McIntire and his as- sociates, to erect a dam above the Licking, at a point nearly opposite Market street.
" The said dam to cominence at an abutinent made in the river, two chains from the east bank of said river, in circular form, to an abutment on the west bank of said river. The said dam not to exceed a level of five feet at the abutment in the river ; and build a slope of thirty feet wide,
one inch fall to every foot in length. The said John McIntire and associates shall, at all times, keep the slope in good repair for the passage of rafts. From the abutment in the river, near the eastern bank, he shall erect a wing dam, par- allel with the bank of the river, the wing dam to extend from the abutment to a point of rocks op- posite to the terminus of an alley, which passes by the house of said McIntire (Fountain alley) ; the said John McIntire and associates shall con- struct good and sufficient locks for boats ascend- ing and descending the river; the locks to be not less than twenty-five feet wide, and not less than ninety feet long ; to keep said locks in good repair, and keep a person to lock the crafts through, without delay, and free of expense to the owners of the crafts. John McIntire and associates to be granted the permission to cut the canal one chain and fifty links, below the lower (Putnam)bridge ; the water to pass into the river through locks built of good cut sandstone, twenty-five feet wide and ninety feet long ; to be granted the privilege of collecting toll at these locks when constructed, at the rate of twenty- five cents per ton for every boat or water craft ; crafts with a capacity of less than a ton, six cents for every hundred weight; every empty porogue, or canoe, twenty-five cents. John Mc- Intire and associates to pay all expenses for keeping the locks in repair ; the dam and canal to be completed within six years after the pas- sage of this act.
MATHIAS CORWIN, Speaker of the House. THOMAS KIRKER, President of the Senate.
Passed Feb. 21, 1812."
DISTILLERIES .- The first distillery was built on Mill run, near Zanestown, in 1808, by Spen- cer Lahew.
In 1813, Barton and McGowan had a distillery on the site now occupied by Power House, No. 3.
In 1815, Valentine Best paid a tax of $566.79 for manufacturing whisky. Spencer Lahew paid a tax of $159.20 ; Joseph Sheets paid a tax of $550.40 : and John Sidell paid a tax of $332.27. The location of the latter two is unknown.
EXPRESS COMPANIES .- The first business of this kind, in Zanesville, was the "Pony Ex- press," inaugurated by the Postoffice Depart- ment at Washington, D. C., in 1836, to carry important mail and other light matter. This ex- press passed through this city to Columbus, and made the trip between the two places in five hours. The distance was estimated at fifty-four miles. Mr. A. B. Dumm was one of the ex- press riders from Zanesville to Columbus. Dur- ing this year, D. Tallmadge started and ran *mail stage lines between Zanesville (Ohio) and Mays- ville (Kentucky). The Bainbridge and Cincin- nati, Lancaster and Columbus Pilot line, of four- horse post coaches, leaves Zanesville every morning at 8 o'clock, running through Lancas- ter, Chillicothe and Bainbridge, to Maysville,
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HISTORY OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO.
(Kentucky), connecting at Bainbridge with this line to Cincinnati, through Maysville in 36 hours, or to Cincinnati in 48 hours. For seats in Zanes- ville, apply at the office of Neil, Moore & Co.'s General Stage Office, National House."
Prior to 1846, James D. Burr, Charles E. Brown, and - Himple, were running a daily stage line over the National road, between Wheeling and Zanesville ; and during this year they began a regular express business, in con- nection with Cass & Co.'s Ohio River Express. Henry Orundorf was the first Zanesville agent. He had his office in the old stage tavern. This express business fell into the hands of the Adams Express Company, in July, 1854. The present officer and assistants of this company, are : Thomas Brown, agent; Thomas Scott, bill clerk, and John Scott, driver. Office, 15 North Fourth street. The American Express Company opened their office April Ist, 1852. A. C. Ross, then a jeweler, acted as their first agent, at a salary of fifty dollars per annum.
The B. & O. Express Company opened their office in Zanesville, September 12th, 1871. Their present officers are: J. C. Gerwick, agent ; Frank Schultz, clerk. Office. Main street, next to Deposit Bank.
FILE MANUFACTORY .- In 1854, Henry Rockel inaugurated this industry, and still continues the business, having made it a success.
FOUNDERS AND MACHINISTS .- In 1819, Thos. L. Pierce started a foundry on the site now owned by Jacob Smith & Co. In 1827, Richmond and Robert Bostwick purchased the business. In 1832, John A. Adams and Benjamin Wheeler be- came their successors. In 1839, they built on the site now occupied by Jones & Abbott, and con- tinued the business until 1848, when the firm changed to Gilbert & Wheeler, who continued the business until 1863, when Sullivan & Herd- man became proprietors. In 1866, Charles H. Jones was admitted to the firm, and in 1871 Charles H. Abbott became a partner, and the firm name was changed to Jones & Abbott, who continue the business on an extensive scale.
In 1826, William Blocksom and John T. Fracker built a foundry in Fountain alley, be- tween Sixth and Seventh streets, where they conducted a general foundry business until the fall of 1833, when Mr. Fracker withdrew, and was succeeded by George Wand, A. P. Block- som, (son of William Blocksom), and Henry Blandy, who did business under the name of Blocksom, Blandy & Co., and soon after leased the Dillon's Falls Furnace and Forge, for two years, when they did business under the name of Dillon, Blandy & Co., and in 1835 this firm dissolved. In 1838, Henry Blandy, William Blocksom, aud his sons, G. W. and A. P., formed a partnership, and operated under the name of Blocksom, Blandy & Co., and contin- ued the business until 1840, when Mr. Blandy withdrew and formed the firm of H. and F. Blandy, who prepared for a large business, and in 1866 employed three hundred and twenty
men, and did business amounting to seven hun- dred and eighty thousand dollars. Their busi- ness has been constantly increasing and is now very large.
In 1830, John D. Dare and Elias Ebert began to do business, under the name of Dare & Ebert, and built the first steam engine made in Zanes- ville. In 1832, this firm became Dare, Whitaker & Co., and continued the business until 1837, when Ebert and Whitaker withdrew and built a new shop, on the corner of Sixth and Main streets, where they operated until 1840, and then built the shops now occupied by Griffith & Wedge, on South Fifth street. This establish- ment passed into the hands of Griffith & Wedge about 1856, and they continue to do business there, with very greatly enlarged buildings and facilities.
In 1839, John T. Fracker and his son, John T., built a small foundry, on the southwest corner of Locust alley and Sixth street, where they made small castings, chiefly. In 1850 this firm changed to John T. Fracker & Bro., and in 1852 to John T. Fracker, Jr., who continued the business un- til 1870.
In 1851, the firm of Douglas, Smith & Co. was formed, and carried on the foundry business until the breaking out of the War of the Rebel- lion, and was then changed to Douglas Brothers, but failed soon after.
January Ist, 1866, William M. Shinnick, Daniel Hatton, George D. Gibbons, and William J. Woodside, entered into partnership, under the name of Shinnick, Hatton & Co., for the pur- pose of doing foundry business, and occupied the old Blocksom foundry, on Fountain alley, which they enlarged. In 1870 this firm name was changed to Shinnick, Woodside & Gibbons. The establishment is known as the Union Foun- dry
IRON FURNACES .- In 1818, Abraham Wood and Elias Ebert, under the firm name of Wood & Ebert, started a blast furnace at the mouth of Simms' creek, where they made pig iron for a few years; much of this was used in T. L. Pierce's foundry, and by the Reeves' in their nail and bar iron works. The business was closed in 1822.
In 1830, Jeremiah Dare was engaged in the manufacture of castings, machinery, etc. From this small beginning, sprung the great works of Duvall & Co., northeast corner of Third and Market streets.
In 1848, John Newell, W. T. Davis, John J. James, John H. Jones, Benjamin Louth, and William James, under the firm name of Newell, Davis, James & Co., with a capital of $20,000, was organized. The company passed through various vicissitudes until July 3d, 1857, when it was incorporated as the Ohio Iron Company, with a capital of $75,000. The directory, at the time of organization, consisted of Henry Blandy, President, C. W. Potwin, Secretary, Samuel Baird, Treasurer, E. B. Greene and E. E. Fil- more.
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HISTORY OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO.
The present officers are: President, James Herdman ; Secretary and Treasurer, Oliver Ong ; Superintendent, W. P. Brown ; Directors, James Herdman, M. Churchill, W. A. Graham, Thos. Griffith, F. J. L. Blandy, Alex. Grant and T. W. Gattrell.
In 1859, the Zanesville Furnace Company was organized, with the following membership: Na- than Gattrell, George A. Jones, William Fox, Joseph Black, John C. English, Samuel Baird, Charles W. Potwin, and Duston H. Willard.
The capital was divided into shares of $1,000 each. They manufactured pig iron. The bus- iness was purchased by the Ohio Iron Com- pany, in 1862. The present officers of the Ohio Iron Company are: President, M. Churchill ; Secretary and Treasurer, C. W. Greene.
ZANESVILLE GASLIGHT COMPANY .- The in- flammable aeriform fluid was first evolved from coal by Dr. Clayton, in 1739. Its application to the purposes of illumination was first tried by Mr. Murdock in, Cornwall, in 4792. The first display of gaslights was made at Boulton & Watts' foundry, in Birmingham, England, on the occasion of the rejoicings for peace in 1802. Gas was permanently used, to the exclu- sion of lamps and candles, at the cotton mills of Phillips and Lee, in Manchester, in 1805. The streets of New York, (the first in the United States), were first lighted with gas in the winter of 1823-4. The first gas used in Zanesville, Ohio, was in November, 1849, the Zanesville Gaslight Company having been incorporated and built in the early part of the same year.
The capital stock of this company-$50,000 is held by about forty persons. From the time the works were built until 1867, one gasometer, or holder, was sufficient ; during that year an- other was built, and in 1880 a third was added.
From 1849 to 1852, John Graves was the Su- perintendent, and from that year until 1865 A. J. Printz held that position, since which time his son, Eugene Printz, has filled the office. In 1865, the company charged $4. 18 per thousand feet for gas ; in 1880 it was reduced to $2.00 per thous- and feet. In 1880 the number of consumers amounted to 900, and the number of street lamps lighted 400, requiring about twenty miles of pipe, two miles of which was laid that year.
The Directors and officers are elected by the stockholders annually. In 1881 they were as follows :
A. C. Ross, H. Stanbery, Dr. C. C. Hildreth, M. M. Granger, D. C. Convers, Directors.
The Directors at once met and elected the fol- lowing officers : A. C. Ross, President ; Alex. Grant, Treasurer ; A. Guille, Secretary ; Eugene Printz, Superintendent.
The works are located on Sixth street, between Center and Howard streets.
GLASS .- The oldest specimen of glass bearing anything like a date, is a little molded lion's head, bearing the name of an Egyptian King of the eleventh dynasty. It is in the Slade collection of the British Museum. This dynasty may be
placed about 2000 B. C. Glass was not only made but made with skill at that time, which shows that the art was nothing new. The inven- tion of glazing pottery with a film, or varnish, of glass is so old that among the fragments which bear inscriptions of the early Egyptian mon- archy, are heads, probably of the first dynasty. Of later glass, there are numerous examples, such as a head found at Thebes, which has the name of Queen Hatasoo of the eighteenth dynasty. Of the same period, are vases and goblets and many fragments. It cannot be doubted that the story of Pliny, which assigns the credit of the inven- tion to the Phoenicians, is so far true, that these adventurous merchants brought specimens to other countries from Egypt.
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