USA > Ohio > Muskingum County > History of Muskingum County, Ohio ; with illustrations and biographical sketches of prominent men and pioneers, 1794 > Part 73
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"The brethren assured him of their love and forgiveness, and both they and the sisters spent the latter part of the night in singing praises to God, their Savior, in the joyful hope that they would soon be able to praise him without sin.
"When the day of execution arrived, namely, the 8th day of March, 1782, two houses were fixed upon, one for the brethren, and one for the sisters and children, to which the wanton mur- derers gave the name of slaughter houses. Some of them went to the brethren and showed great impatience that the execution had not yet begun, to which the brethren replied that they were all ready to die, having commended their immortal souls to God, who had given them that Divine assurance, in their hearts, that they should come unto Him and be with Him forever more.
"Immediately after this declaration, the carn- age commenced. The poor innocent people- men, women and children-were led, bound two and two together with ropes. into the above men- tioned slaughter houses, and there scalped and murdered." Heckewelder says: "One of the party, now taking up a cooper's mallet, which lay in the house, ( the owner being a cooper), saying : . How exactly this will answer for the business : he began with Abraham, and continued knock- ing down, one after another, until he had counted fourteen that he had killed with his own hands. He now handed the instrument to one of his fel- low murderers, saying : My arm now fails me : go on in the same way! I think I have done pretty well.' In another house, where the women and children were confined, Judith, a remarkably pious aged widow, was the first victim.
"According to the testimony of the murderers themselves, they behaved with uncommon pa- tience, and went to meet death with cheerful res- ignation. A sister, called Christina, who form- erly lived with the sisters in Bethlehem, and who spoke English and German well, fell upon her knees before the captain of the gang and begged for her life, but was told that he could not help her.
"Thus, ninety-six persons magnified the name of the Lord by patiently meeting a cruel death. Sixty-two were grown persons, and among them were five of the most valuable assistants. There were thirty-four children.
"Only two youths, each between sixteen and seventeen years old, escaped-almost miraculous- ly-from the hands of the murderers. One of them, seeing they were in earnest, was so fortu- nate as to disengage himself from the bonds, then, slipping unobserved from the crowd, he crept through a narrow window into the cellar of the house in which the sisters were executed. Their blood penetrated through the flooring, and, ac- cording to his account, ran in streams into the cellar, by which it appears probable that most, if not all of them, were not merely scalped, but killed with hatchets and swords. The lad lav concealed until night-no one coming to search the cellar-when, with much difficulty, he climb- ed up the wall to the window, and escaped into a neighboring thicket. The other youth was named Thomas." They struck him only a blow upon the head, took his scalp, and left him. Af- ter some time he recovered his senses, saw him- self surrounded by bleeding bodies. among them one called Abel, endeavoring to raise himself up. But he remained still as though dead, and his cau- tion proved the means of his deliverance, for soon after, one of the murderers, observing Abel's mo- tions, killed him with two or three blows. Thomas lay quiet until dark, though suffering the most agonizing torment. He then ventured to creep towards the door, and observing nobody in the neighborhood, got out and escaped into the woods. where he concealed himself. These two youths met afterwards in the woods, and God preserved them from harm on their journey to Sandusky. They took a long circuit, and suffered great hard- ships and danger on their way. Before they left Gnadenhutten, they observed the murderers mak- ing merry after their successful enterprise. and at last set fire to the two slaughter houses filled with corpses.
"Providentially. the believing Indians who were at Shoenbrun escaped. The missionaries had, immediately on receiving orders to repair to Fort Detroit, sent a messenger to the Muskin- gum, to call the Indians home, with a view to see them once more, and to get horses for their jour- ney. This messenger happened to arrive at Shoen- brun the day before the murderers came to Gnad- enhutten, and having delivered his message, the Indians of Shoenbrun sent another messenger to Gnadenhutten, to inform their brethren there, and at Salem, of the messages received. But before he reached Gnadenhutten, he found young She- bosch lying dead and scalped by the wayside. and looking forward, saw many white people in and about Gnadenhutten. He instantly fled back with great precipitation, and toll the Indians at Shoenbrun what he had seen, who all took flight and ran into the woods. They now hesitated a long while, not knowing whither to turn. or how to proceed. Thus, when the murderers arrived at Shoenbrun, the Indians were still near the premises, observing everything that happened there, and might easily have been discovered : but here the murderers seemed, as it were, struck with blindness. Finding nobody at home, they destroyed and set fire to the settlement, having
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done the same at Gnadenhutten and Salem. They set off with the scalps of their innocent vic- tims, about fifty horses, a number of blankets and other things, and marched to Pittsburgh, with a view to murder the Indians lately settled on the north side of the Ohio, opposite the Fort. Some of them fell a sacrifice to the rage of this blood- thirsty crew, and a few escaped. Among the lat- ter was Anthony, a member of the (Moravian) congregation, who happened to be at Pittsburgh, and both he and the Indians at Shoenbrun arrived, after many dangers, safely at Sandusky.'
The Rev. Joseph Doddridge, in his notes on the settlement and Indian wars of Western Virginia and Pennsylvania, published in Wheeling, in 1824, closes his narrative of this transaction by saying that Colonel Williamson had only the rank of a militia officer, which was to advise and not to command ; that "he was a brave man, but not cruel ; he would meet an enemy and fight like a soldier, but would not murder a prisoner. Had he possessed the authority of a superior officer in a regular army, I do not believe a single Mora- vian Indian would have lost his life ; but he pos- sessed no such authority. His only fault was too easy compliance with popular opinion and popu- lar prejudice.
--
"Should it be asked, what sort of people com- posed the band of murderers of those unfortunate people? I answer, they were not miscreants or vagabonds. Many of them were men of the first standing in the country. Many of them were men who had recently lost relatives by the hand
of the savages. Several of the latter class found articles which had been plundered from their own homes, or those of their relatives, in the houses of the Moravians. One man, it is said, found the clothes of his wife and children, who had been murdered by the Indians but a few days before. They were still bloody ; yet there was no unequiv- ocal evidence that these people had any direct agency in the war. Whatever of our property was found with them had been left by the warri- ors in exchange for provisions, which they took from them. When attacked by our people. they might have defended themselves ; they did not. They never fired a single shot. They were pris- oners, and had been promised protection. Every dictate of justice and humanity required that their lives should be spared. The complaint of their villages being 'half-way houses for the warriors' was at an end, as they had been removed to San- dusky the fall before. It was, therefore, an atro- cious and unqualified murder.
Soon after the massacre on the Muskingum, the congregation at Sandusky, reduced in num- bers and deprived of teachers, vielded to the so- licitations of their Delaware and Shawanese friends, and abandoned their settlements at San- dusky. They were ordered to do so by Half King, who persisted in holding them in some de- gree responsible for the fate of his two sons ; but. in their situation, it was. doubtless, a prudent res- olution. Heckewelder mentions the Scioto and Miami of the Lake as their destinations, and here, while the heathen, aboriginal. and European, raged around them, the simple-hearted proselytes® of a religion of peace found a refuge.
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TOWNSHIP HISTORIES.
CHAPTER XXXII. FALLS TOWNSHIP.
THE PIONEERS - SCHOOLS - DILLON'S FALLS - FIRST STORE-MAIL ROUTE-BLACK LOG M. E. CHURCH - ORGANIZATION OF TOWNSHIP - ITS TOPOGRAPHY, SOIL AND GEOLOGY-FIRST SUR- VEYORS-PHYSICIANS-WEST ZANESVILLE VIL- LAGE-THE PIONEER PREACHER-TEMPERANCE WORK - TAVERNS - FLOURING MILLS-FIRST BURIAL GROUND-FIRST TANNERY-FIRST MAR- RIAGE - REPRESENTATIVES - SALT WORKS- FIRST SABBATH SCHOOL- METHODIST PROTES- TANT CHURCH-NATIONAL ROAD-FRAZEYBURG SCHOOL-RICH VALE M. E. CHURCH-OAKLAND CHURCH-ANCIENT POTTERY-POST OFFICE IN WEST ZANESVILLE- GLEN MOORE NURSERY- ISRAELITISH BURIAL GROUND - VILLAGE OF WEST ZANESVILLE ANNEXED TO THE CITY OF ZANESVILLE-THE FIRST GRANGE-PLEASANT VALLEY GRANGE - RICH VALLEY GRANGE - POTTERY-LIME BURNING -- IRON ORE-MAGNE- SLAN LIMESTONE-THIE FIRST RAILROAD- GEOLOGY.
THE PIONEERS .- The first settler was Edward Tanner, who built his cabin not far from the south bank of the Licking river, about seven miles above its mouth. This was in 1790, four years before the trading post was inaugurated at Zanestown, and before any amicable relations seemed to exist between the " pale faces " and the Aborigines. We say amicable relations, for the common feeling between the two races was manifestly hostile, based upon a supposed antagonism, and, owing to the treachery of many white and red men, too often declared itself by deeds of rapine, arson and bloodshed. the legiti- mate outgrowth of false ideas of mine and thine. Tradition informs us that Edward Tanner, who was born on the south branch of the Potomac, when about sixteen years old was captured by Indians and taken to Upper Sandusky, Ohio, and kept a prisoner for three years and a half and then released, when he returned to Virginia, and, after becoming a man, married and soon af- ter migrated to the place where he built his cabin, as stated. In view of his capture and re- lease, we may suppose that he was not maltreated during that captivity. and that he had found favor at their hands, and as he subsequently was will- ing to venture with his wife into the wilderness over which red men roamed and held dominion, he evidently had acquired faith in their integrity and fair dealing, when met by the same traits in
I the white man. At any rate, he settled in their midst and remained unmolested. And a little more than a year afterwards-in 1792-his son, Samuel, was born. William C. Tanner was born there also-the same now known as Captain Tanner.
About the beginning of the present century Edward Tanner built a new log house to dwell in, instead of the primitive cabin. This was the first hewed log house in all this country ; it is not now used for a dwelling. Edward Tanner was a con- sistent member of the M. E. Church. He died in 1831. His son, Captain W. C. Tanner, lives on the old homestead farm. Major Bonni- field was the next to settle in this locality, but when the township lines were run. his home was found to be in Hopewell township. Baltzer Fletcher settled near Mr. Tanner, on the east. about 1791. He was from Virginia, also. John Kinkead came from New Jersey, in 1795.
In 1797, Elias Hughes and John Ratliff -- frontier scouts-moved from Virginia and settled near the mouth of the Licking river, but in about a year forsook their cabins and moved about twen- ty miles further up the stream. It is not likely that they made homes there, as no trace is to be found of them, beyond the tradition. It is prob- able they were the same worthies of whom an account, by their names, is given in the history of Muskingum township.
In 1798. a Mr. Priest settled in the same local- ity. Tradition informs us that " Mr. Priest, wife and six children, the youngest in arms, removed from Culpepper county. Virginia, four hundred miles away, the parents walking, the mother carrying her babe, while the other children and their household goods and furniture were trans- ported on pack horses. Mrs. Priest lived to be 102 years old." It is to be regretted that the place of their location and some of the events of such a family, have not been kept in the memory of some one, or otherwise preserved.
Abel Lewis came to Zanesville from Pennsyl- vania, in the year 1800. It is said he was a man of unusual courage, although very cautious. Doubtless a man venturing from Pennsylvania into Ohio, at that time, was possessed of true courage. The following incident, related of him. evinces his caution : " Traveling on foot, when night came. in order to avoid the danger of be- ing attacked by wild beasts while asleep, he climbed into a tree top, tied his arm to a limb with his pocket handkerchief, and passed the night safely." That the country was settled by
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TOWNSHIP HISTORIES OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO.
such men, was surely a guarantee of its develop- ment in the ways of civilization. Mr. Lewis was clerk of the court from 1803 to 1811 : he was a surveyor, also. He removed to the farm now oc- cupied by his son, George J. Lewis, in 1812. George was a small boy at that time, and has lived on the old home place ever since. It is situated near the north boundary, and a little west of the median line of the township.
John Channel, a noted hunter, squatted near John Ratliff in 1804, and changed his abode soon after, for some locality further up the river.
The next to join the settlement. were William Kamp and Frederick Geyer. The latter, in 1807. lived on the farm now owned by Lewis Lane. His son. George F. Geyer, then a mere lad, is now in his eighty-fifth year.
The first carpenter was Woodward. whose first work was done for Edward Tanner, on his hewed log house. A.D. 1800.
THE FIRST SCHOOL .- We would have liked to have given the names of the first scholars, or some of them, and their succcessors. It would have enabled the reader to recall fond memories, and doubtless would have awakened fountains of human feeling seemingly dried up. It is an un- welcome task to record so little concerning a field so fruitful of " happier hours," that were cherished in the long ago. Surely there was a wealth of ties in common, when children found their way o'er hill and dale to the log school house. where the teacher was sometimes taught as well as the scholar. And when the mysteries of the books were laid away for the day, and the evening shades began to fall, their souls breathed a " common prayer :"
" Ave Maria ! o'er the earth and sea 'That heavenliest hour of heaven is worthiest thee ! Ave Maria ! blessed be the hour, The rime, the clime, the spot, where I so oft Have felt that moment in its fullest power, Sink o'er the earth so beautiful and soft."
And as the children wandered home again. often peering into each others faces, some of which were radiant with feeling, and tears of joy or sorrow lingered on the cheek-how hallowed those scenes ! but we have none other than our own memory to draw from, and so must be 'con- tent with a few brief statements, and leave the reader to supply the rest.
The first school, then, was kept in the edge of Falls and Hopewell townships, in 1801, by a Mr. Black. The first school house in this township was built on the farm owned by William Search. situated in the southwest corner of the township, about 1804. This temple of learning, like many cotemporary institutions of the same kind, was of the primitive order of architecture-and too familiar to the student of "ye olden time" to warrant a description here. The purpose for which it was reared was served in the most prac- tica! way. It was then that the future statesman and philosopher, or the dignified matron, first struggled with the problems in orthography, and
it is worthy of note that this subject has not ceased to cause a struggle in its mastery,even in institutions of greater pretensions, to this day. Writing and Arithmetic. the remaining members of the trio that embraced the curriculum of the institutions aforesaid-otherwise expressed in the phrase to " read, write and cipher "-formed the most important factors that challenged their endeavor. The graduates of these institutions had one advantage over those of more modern times, they were satisfied with their attainments and betook themselves to the industrial pursuits of life, which, to them, were the short roads to happiness.
About the same time, perhaps a little later, J. Ranny taught school on the Camp farm, on the north side of the Licking river. The teachers have doubtless passed away, and there are few of the pupils to answer to the roll call.
DILLON'S FALLS VILLAGE.
The inception of this settlement, was when Moses Dillon first saw the Falls. About the year 1803, or 1804, Moses Dillon, senior, then about seventy years of age. came to this region, as the traveling companion of a Quaker minister, on a visit to the Wyandot Indians. located at the head waters of the Coshocton branch of the Muskin- gum river. Arriving at the Falls of the Lick- ing. Mr. Dillon was. first impressed with the beauty of the landscape, and then with the fact that here was a fine water-power, and conceived the idea of utilizing it for manufacturing pur- poses. Before leaving the neighborhood, he dis- covered iron ore, which increased his determin- ation to make this a business point. Soon after his return to his home, in Pennsylvania, he pur- chased a tract of land, including the Falls- probably near three thousand acres. He moved to the Falls in 1805. and erected an iron furnace and foundry. and made all kinds of hollow-ware then in vogue. This was probably the first fur- nace and foundry erected west of the Alleghany Mountains. In 1814, Mr. Dillon built a grist- mill and two sawmills near the Falls, one on the east side of the river. These mills, and the fur- nace and foundry, gave employment, sometimes to as many as one hundred and fifty men.
In 1806, Mr. Dillon opened a store at the Falls of the Licking, with a general assortment of merchandise suited to the wants of the pioneer. and trading with the Indians, many of whom yet lingered in the region round about. and found it convenient to exchange their skins, furs. other wares, and meats, for articles of clothing and ammunition. This became an important trading point. The people were allowed to settle on his land near by, and the village, that grew in this wise-though never regularly laid out, and no one acquired title to the land occupied by them -once numbered fifty families.
Moses Dillon had three sons, John, Isaac. and Moses, who, like himself, were enterprising me11. He was engaged in business with his sons until near the time of his death, in 1828, having lived to be ninety-four years old. His son John
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TOWNSHIP HISTORIES OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO.
continued the furnace, foundry, and mills, for some years after the father's death, and gave at- tention to agriculture and horticulture. He and his brother Isaac were among the number who organized the Muskingum County Agricultural Society, in 1836. They held their first fair at the Court House in Zanesville, an account of which is given in another part of this work. John Dil- lon was the first President of the Society. He died in the year 1862. aged eighty-six, having lived a very useful life. Isaac Dillon was exten- sively engaged in agriculture, horticulture, and breeding fine stock. He was the first in the township to engage in breeding Durham cattle and Merino sheep, and aided many others to en- gage in this business.
In 1825, Isaac Dillon engaged in manufactur- ing linseed oil, carpets, cloths, cassimeres, and satinet. His mills were located at the mouth of the Licking river, in West Zanesville. He had a sawmill just above the bridge, and a store in the brick building now standing between the railroad bridge and the Licking river. They have all passed away ! Others occupy the field, with industries larger and grander, but not more important than those in their day.
" The blood of our ancestors nourished the tree ; From their tomb, from their ashes it sprung, Its boughs with their trophies are hung ;
Their spirit dwells in it, and-hark ! for it spoke, The voice of our fathers ascends from the oak."
The tree of prosperity, with its wide-spreading branches, each side of the river.
THE FIRST STORE.
The first store was opened. at the Falls of the Licking by Moses Dillon and sons, about A. D. 1806. Their merchandise was brought to them on pack-horses, rarely by wagon, and embraced everything known to the pioneer's schedule.
THE FIRST MAIL ROUTE.
The first mail route through this township was from Zanesville to Newark, north of the Licking river, inaugurated in 1806. The mail was first carried on horseback. In 1825, Neile, Moore & Company placed coaches on the road. This was a doubtful improvement, even for passengers, as road working had not been practiced, and most of the route lay through swampy woods. It was no unusual thing for a coach-having to take to the hillsides, to avoid the swamps-to upset, to the disquietude of the inmates, and sometimes se- riously damaging their persons. The music of the driver's horn, or the flourish of his whip. may not be forgotten, but their combined influ- ence could not subdue the fears of those who en- trusted themselves to their care over one of these routes.
About the same time, John S. Dugan ran a line of stages fram Zanesville to Newark, via Irville and Nashport, a longer route, but traveled in less time than the other, as the road was bet- ter. One Alexander Thompson was a driver on
this route. Drivers were notable characters, and fully appreciated their position, as mail car- riers, especially, and often were "the boon com- panions of men of high as well as low degree."
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
This society was formed at the Falls of Lick- ing river, about four miles from Zanesville, and organized in 1807. The first members were : Edward Tanner and family, Samuel Simpson and family, and Baltzer Fletcher and family.
The first class-leader and preacher was Rev. David Sherrard. The Reverends, James B. Findley and George Ellis, "pioneer itinerants," preached at this place, at divers times, and in sundry other places in this region. and were largely instrumental in the formation of the so- ciety alluded to. ' The former was for some time a missionary among Indians.
In 1807, or 1808, another society, under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church. was formed, in the northwest corner of the ter- ritory now known as Falls township, and was known as Hayne's or Hooper's Society, proba- bly because persons of those names took a lead- ing part in their religious exercises ; this is more reasonable than to suppose that they were the leading contributors, for, in those days, all who attended the house of prayer- were content with a very humble temple, and, as their habits were frugal, there was but a nominal expense connect- ed with the service. The probability is, also, that those who worshiped at all, worshiped God, since there was no pomp of circumstance, nor gorgeousness, about the temple to distract them from it.
This society built a meeting-house, in 1810, in the same locality. An accidental circumstance gave rise to the name by which it was best known in after years. During the process of building, one of the logs was blackened by fire before being raised to its place in the building. and the meeting-house was named " Black Log." Some, however, preferred to call it the chapel.
ORGANIZATION, TOPOGRAPHY, SOIL AND GEOLOGY.
This township was organized on the 9th of March, A. D., 1808. September 3, 1817. a part of West Zanesville was added to its territory. It is bounded by the following lines : "Begin- ning on the west side of the Licking River, at the corporation line of the city of Zanesville, on what is the . Military. or Base line,' thence west along said line one and one-half miles to the southeast corner of Hopewell township ; thence north along the line of said township to the south- casterly corner of Licking, and southwesterly corner of Muskingum townships : thence east along the south line of Muskingum township to the Muskingum river ; thence in a southerly di- rection along, and down.said river to the corpor- ation line of the city of Zanesville ; thence west and south around the said corporation of Zanes- ville to the place of beginning."
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