USA > Ohio > Muskingum County > History of Muskingum County, Ohio ; with illustrations and biographical sketches of prominent men and pioneers, 1794 > Part 77
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346
TOWNSHIP HISTORIES OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO.
THE INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS.
A Lodge was instituted in Fultonham, in 1855, with the following charter members: P. II. Grimsley, Isaac Wilson, John Smith, S. K. Ream. J. Danisom, Jerry Zeigler, W. Williams, Jeremiah Burgess, G. W. Smitley, T. R. Wilson. Noble Grand, P. H. Grimsley ; Vice Grand, Isaac Wilson : Secretary, John Smith ; Treasurer, S. K. Ream ; R. S. N. G., J. Dan- isom ; L. S. N. G., Jerry Zeigler ; R. S. V. G., W. Williams ; L. S. V. G .. Jeremiah Burgess ; I. J., G. W. Smitley ; O. G., T. R. Wilson.
The present officers are as follows: N. G., John Sagle; V. G., A. R. Keys; R. S., Joseph Rose; P. S., A. E. Henderson ; Treasurer, Wm. Huggens.
The number of Past Grands in attendance is twenty-five, viz: John Watkins, E. Van Atta, J. Smitley, J. Zeigler. A. E. Henderson, Jose- phus Powell, Edmund Rudolph, John Dollins, Joseph Llewellyn, J. H. Crooks, James Barnet, Isaac Barnet, O. H. Norman, H. C. McLain, J. H. Beachem, W. Curry, Washington Day, G. W. McLain, F. M. Frederick, S. B. Axline, G. A. Hays, Frank Stires, D. J. Johnson, R. B. Jones, W. J. Roberts. The membership now numbers 85.
MUSKINGUM LODGE, NO. 368, F. AND A. M.
This Lodge was organized June 23d, A. L. 5866. A. D. 1866.
The first officers of Muskingum Lodge, No. 368, working under Dispensation, June 15th, A. L., 5866, A. D. 1866, were as follows :
George Brunner, W. M .; W. C. Lenhart, S. W. ; David Crossan. J. W. ; J. Ziegler, Treasurer ; George W. Fauley. Secretary ; A. C. Brechbill, S. D. ; Wm. Sniff, J. D. ; H. A. Stanton, Tiler.
The other brethren named in the Dispensation, were as follows :
John Crooks, C. P. Ensminger, G. J. Keyes, Noah Moore, Joseph Rambo, E. Vanatta.
The first officers of Muskingum Lodge, No. 368. after receiving the Charter, October, 16th, A. L., 5866, A. D., 1866, were as follows :
W. C. Lenhart, W. M. : A. C. Brechbill, S. W. ; G. J. Keves, J. W. ; J. Ziegler, Treasurer ; Geeorge W. Fauley, Secretary ; Wm. Sniff, S. D. ; David Crossan, J. D. ; H. A. Stanton, Tiler.
The members of this Lodge were as follows : George Brunner, W. H. Bugh. John Crooks, S. Chilcote. J. H. Cunningham, C. P. Ensmin- ger, Noah Moore, Joseph Rambo, E. Vanatta.
The present officers of this Lodge are as fol- lows :
A. C. Brechbill, W. M. ; W. H. Bugh, S. W .; Benjamin J. Dugan, J. W .; A. Carter, W. R .; C. H. H. Panmore, Treasurer ; J. B. Carson, Secretary.
The meetings are held over C. B. Fauley's drug store.
The organization is under many obligations to S. Stacker Williams. of Newark, Ohio, whom it looks to as the father of the institution. The membership now numbers forty-five.
FULTONHAM ACADEMY.
This Academy was chartered in 1880, as "The Fultonham Academy," with the following Board of Incorporation :
Rev. B. F. Thomas, President of Board ; George Axline, Treasurer ; Dr. E. Van Atta, Vice President : W. H. Bugh, Chas. E. Weller, George W. Fauley, James Cusac ; D. W. Parks, Principal and Secretary.
This school originated in 1870, under the Special School District Board ; Dr. E. Van Atta, Dr. O. M. Norman and Jeremiah Zeigler, Esq. : with A. W. Search, teacher in the Public School.
The building is of brick, two stories and a basement, 40x60 feet, and has one acre of ground in the enclosure. The total cost was $10,000. The outlay for apparatus, $500 ; for library, $750.
Teachers .- The Academy will be under the immediate charge of the Principal, Prof. D. W. Parks, a graduate of the Classical Course of Ohio University, late Principal of Madison Academy, formerly Principal of Fostoria Normal School, and such assistant teachers as may be necessary to meet the wants of the Academy.
Books .- All books used in the Academy may be obtained there at reasonable rates.
Boarding .- Boarding in private families, or in clubs, can be obtained on the most reasonable terms.
Location .- The institution is located at Ful- tonham, now known as Uniontown, Muskingum county, Ohio, on the Zanesville and Maysville Pike, nine miles southwest of Zanesville. Daily mail and hack connect Fultonham with Zanes- ville and Somerset, from which points any part of the State may be easily reached by rail. Roseville Station, on the C. & M. V. Railway, is within five miles. The institution is thus of easy access, and at the same time free from the influences usually surrounding railroad towns.
NEWTON TOWNSHIP GEOLOGICALLY.
The Chief Geologist, Prof. J. S. Newbery, reporting progress in the survey in 1869, notes as follows :
"At Gladstone's Mill, near Newtonville, we find a limestone in the bed of the North Fork of Jonathan's creek. which is believed to be the same as the Maxville limestone. The bottom of the stone was not seen, but a well dug in the village passed through fifteen feet of limestone. The upper layer shows a chocolate tint. It is re- ported that this limestone is seen for five miles, in Jonathan's creek, above Newtonville, and dis- appears one mile below. On Kent's run, which joins the North Fork of Jonathan's creek at Newtonville, it is said to be seen for nine miles. About fifty feet above the limestone at Glad- stone's Mill, was found a stratum of sandstone fifteen inches thick, on which are very fine im- pressions of marine plants, Spirophyton Caudi- galli, etc., etc., and mingled with these were well defined stigmarice of the coal measures plants. They had been all drifted together and embedded in sand.
347 .
TOWNSHIP HISTORIES OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO.
"The upper limestone, "(Putnam Hill") was also seen in its proper place, higher up the hill, with the usual coaly matter under it.
"A section of the rocks, near Cusac's Mill, on Jonathan's creek, showed an unusually bluish, and fine grained sandstone, about thirty feet be- low the limestone, believed to be the Putnam Hill limestone. It has been much quarried and used, although it has not always weathered well. As a general thing, the shales largely prevailed, and it is in consequence of this fact that we so often find that where the streams have, in their work of erosion, succeeded in cutting down through the Putnam Hill limestone, they have, in all cases where the fall makes it possible, scored their way through the shales to the top of the Maxville, or Newtonville limestone. This is very well seen in the neighborhood of New- tonville. On John Lyle's land, section fourteen, the lower seam, three feet ten inches thick, is ex- tensively mined. There is a layer of nodular iron ore a few feet below the upper coal, which we will notice hereafter. Theiron ores, so far as they have been examined, are of the siderite (proto carbonate of iron) class, the exterior surfaces which have been exposed to atmospheric agencies only being changed to the sesqui oxide of iron.
" The carbonic acid might, in some cases, have originated in marine vegetation, which, in the form of facoids, of the type of spirophyton cauda galli, was abundant at certain periods dur- ing the formation of this lower coal measure group. There is a tendency to the formation of flint, in connection with the layers of iron ore, found about thirty feet below the Putnam Hill limestone. This stratum is far below the flint, or buhr, of Flint Ridge.
"At the mines of the Miami Company, the up- per seam measures four feet, and the other, which is twenty-two feet below, measures three feet ten inches. The coal is largely used.
IRON ORES.
"It is almost impossible to make a section of the lower strata of the productive coal measures, at any place, in the field included in this report, without disclosing more or less iron ore. There are a few distinct and well defined horizons in which the ore is almost always seen. On the top of the Maxville limestone, iron ore was seen at several points. On section fourteen, on the farm of Joseph Rambo, nodules of iron ore were found resting upon the great Maxville, or Newtonville, limestone. No analysis was made of this, but probably it is an excellent ore.
"At nearly the same geological horizon, on the land of Mr. Rambo, are two small layers of sid- erite ore, separated by one foot seven inches of light blue clay-shale, the lower two inches, and the upper three or four inches thick.
"On the land of John Lyle, section fourteen, a layer of nodules of iron ore, three inches thick, was found, resting upon a stratum of calcareous feriferous flint, which, in turn, rests upon, or rather, is cemented to a seam, fifteen inches thick, of blue limestone, under which are three inches
of coal. The surface of the flint stratum is cov- ered with impressions of the marine plant, spir- ophyton cauda galli, allied species. Fifteen feet above is a thin layer of sandstone, with the same vegetable impressions upon it."
In the Report for 1873, by E. B. Andrews, As- sistant Geologist in charge of the survey for the Second District, which embraces Muskingum county, reference is made to the Report for 1869, and the following is added :
"The limestone in the bed of Jonathan's creek, the equivalent of the Maxville limestone, and the best representative in the State of the lower car- boniferous limestone of Illinois and Missouri, is a deposit of very great scientific interest. This for- mation extends several miles above Newtonville, on all the leading branches of the creek. In places, the upper layers are buff colored, and an analysis of the sample taken near J. Roberts', section fourteen, showed the presence of consid- erable magnesia. I copy the analysis, by Prof. Wormley, from former Report :
Silicious matter. 15,20
Alsemina and sesqui oxide of iron. 4.40
Carbonate of lime 49.80
Carbonate of magnesia .... 30.65
Total 100.05
"Probably the whiter and purer portions of the stone contain little else than carbonate of lime. Experiments should be tried with the buff stone, to determine the value of its lime for hydraulic purposes.
"The fossiliferous limestone, eighty feet above the limestone in the bed of the creek, is not the Putnam Hill limestone ; the latter is seventy-two feet higher. Sixty-three feet above this is the lower New Lexington coal, mined at the Miami Company's mines, in section twenty-eight. The upper New Lexington seam, the equivalent of the Straitsville, or Nelsonville seam, is also mined at the same mines. The seams are twenty-two feet apart. The lower one is three feet ten inches thick, and the upper one four feet. The coal is generally of excellent quality. I have no doubt that there are in this township workable seams of good iron ore. Such ores are found north and east, and will be found here, when careful search is made."
HARRISON TOWNSHIP.
THE FIRST SETTLER-PIONEERS-BLACKSMITHI- FIRST TAVERN-FIRST STORE-SCHOOLS-FIRST FRAME HOUSE-FIRST BRICK HOUSE - FIRST ROAD-DAM ACROSS THE MUSKINGUM AT TAY- LORSVILLE-GRIST MILL-FERRY - MANUFAC- TURE OF SALT-TOPOGRAPHY-SOIL-GEOLOGY -UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH-TAYLORSVILLE M. E. CHURCH -TAYLORSVILLE -ST. ANNA'S (CATHOLIC) CHURCHI-ORGANIZATION OF TOWN- SHIP-TAYLORSVILLE CANAL -- THE METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH-BLUE ROCK M. E. CHURCH -TAYLORSVILLE LODGE, NO. 534, I. O. O. F .- TAYLORSVILLE BRIDGE-ST. JOHN'S EVANGEL- ICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH-MILITARY RECORD. The first settler in Harrison township may not
348
TOWNSHIP HISTORIES OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO.
be certainly stated. but in 1798, a family named Bean, inhabited a large sycamore tree, that stood near the mouth of Back run. Other families came soon after, among whom were the Larrisons, Far- leys. and Cobbs. These were followed by Na- thaniel Avers. Samuel Mc Bride, James Hemmet, Henry Ballou, James Neff, and Thomas Winn. In 1804, George Dutro lived on section seventeen ; Jacob Baker came about this time. John W. Baer was probably the first blacksmith in this town- ship. William B. Rose had a shop on Duncan's run, in 1827, and afterwards on "the island," where he smithed for James Taylor during the erection of the mills. He was killed during the fall of 1835, by Robert Annan. James Curran lived in a small frame house situated on what is now lot twenty-five, square twenty-nine, Tay- lorsville, and kept tavern in 1830. The first store in Harrison township was kept by Gearing Scar- vell, who commenced in a small way, about 1833, and gradually increased until he was the owner of a fine store, and is still doing business in Tay- lorsville. The first regular cemetery was estab- lished in Taylorsville in 1833.
SCHOOLS.
Prior to the adoption of the common school law in Ohio, schools were taught in private houses, or in houses erected by a neighborhood for their individual advantage, shared, by agreement, by their neighbors, who shared the expense. The first public school-house, of which any authentic account is preserved, was a two-story frame, erect- ed on the public square, in Taylorsville, in 1834. The teacher was Robert Sheppard.
The first physician was one Bixby, who was succeeded by "a regular." in the person ot Dr. Noah Z. Mercer. After Mercer, came Drs. Ma- son, Clapp, Ballou, Wilkins, Huff, McCormick, Terran, Atwell, Howard, Groves, Suters, Milli- gan, Blackburn, Lyons. Ulrich, Henry. Dorr, Richie, and Evans.
The first frame house was erected by James Taylor, in 1830 ; the first brick house by Amos F. Whissen. in Taylorsville, in 1836. The first regular survey of a road was made from Tay- lorsville to Brush creek. The viewers were, Da- vid Butt, John Oakes, and Gearing Scarvell. James Taylor built a dam across the Muskingum river, at Duncan's Falls, and a saw mill on the west side of the river, in 1829. The next year he built a grist mill at the same place. The dam was replaced by Colonel James Sharp, under a con- tract with the State, in 1837-38, ( at the time the navigation of the Muskingum river was improv- ed). The grist mill, after passing through sev- eral hands, and being moved nearer the shore, became the property of Messrs. W. & W. H. Frazier. It contains four run of buhrs, and is do- ing a fair business. Mr. Taylor also kept a ferry, and engaged in the manufacture of salt, and a number of other enterprises.
Topographically, Harrison township is broken and rough. The highest elevations contain most of the limestone. The lowlands are deemed as productive as any lands similarly situated ; some
of the finest farms in the county are found here. The township is well watered. Sycamore run, Duncan's run. Back run, and Blue Rock run, all of which rise in Brush Creek township, flow east- wardly through Harrison township, and empty into the Muskingum river. Coal is tolerably abundant, but mined with difficulty, on account of "horsebacks" and "shut-outs" occurring in the seams, and which are sometimes very difficult to pass through or around, and then there is no cer- tainty of finding coal beyond them.
GEOLOGY.
The following exhibit is from the report made by the State Geologist upon a section at Tay- lorsville :
Feet. Inches.
1. Sandstone, quarried ..
23
0
2. Not well exposed. 54
0
3. Shale. 4
0
4. Coal, Alexander seam 0
5. Clay 3 0
6. Sandstone
4 0
7. Shale, sandy
3
0
8. Light bluish sandstone, quarried G8
0
9. Shale, blue and sandy 4
0
10. Coal
1
6
11. Clay
0
1
12. Coal
0)
10
13. Clay
6
At the point where the section was made, the Alexander coal was unusually thin. It is reported to be thicker on the east side of the Muskingum river.
The lower coal in this section, which is the equivalent of the upper New Lexington, or Straitsville coal, is worked for neighborhood use.
In section nineteen. Harrison township, at Blue Rock, but not Blue Rock township, the following section was made :
Feet. Inches.
1. Sandstone
8
0
2. Shale 2
0
3. Coal 0
6
4. Shale 30 0
5. Coal, Alexander scam, 3 feet 6 inches to -
The lower Alexander coal has been extensively mined at this point, and shipped on the Muskin- gum river to supply the demand of the salt furn- aces, and the towns on the river below. It was at this point that the roof of an entry fell in, im- prisoning four miners, who were rescued alive after an imprisonment of over thirteen days, dur- ing which time they had nothing to eat, except the dinner carried in for the first day .- [Geolog- ical Report, 1873 ; Volume I , page 332-3. E. B. Andrews. ]
MANUFACTURE OF SALT.
In the year 1816. Jacob and Nathaniel Ayers bored the first well for salt; it was located on Section 10. Town 11, and Range 13, on the west bank of the river. just above the mouth of Syca- more Run, and was sunk to a depth of four hun- dred and eighty-two feet. Subsequently an-
.
349 -
TOWNSHIP HISTORIES OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO.
other well was sunk about four hundred feet dis- tant,and the two wells supplied the furnace : i.e., the evaporating works ; but owing to the primi- tive style of the machinery employed, were not very productive.
In the course of time, these wells became the property of John Stevens, and were known as the "Stevens Salt Works." The success of these works, however, is due to Jacob Neff, who re-bored the old well to a depth of five hundred and three feet, improved the machinery, and re- built the furnace.
The works are now operated by Mr. Neff, and produce about one hundred barrels of excellent salt per week.
STEPHEN GUTHRIE'S SALT WORKS-The wells at these works are respectively four hundred and eighty-eight, and four hundred and ninety-five feet deep, and are situated just below the mouth of Sycamore Run.
The first well here was sunk by Stephen Guthrie, for James Taylor, and the second, by Charles Lucas, for Stephen Guthrie.
The works are now operated by William Edgely, and produce about one hundred barrels of salt per week, with a consumption of one thou- sand bushels of coal.
OTHER WELLS-About the year 1830, Michael Waxler bored a well for Moses Ayers, on the northwest quarter of Section 8, now owned by Henry Krigbaum. This well was sunk five hun- dred feet deep, and was operated by Mr. Ayers for a few years, and then abandoned.
About the same time, Nehemiah Dillon sunk a well on Section 32, near where Samuel Swingle now lives, to a depth of four hundred and fifty feet. This was called a "blowing" well, from its periodical emissions of water and gas. How long it was operated is not now known. There was also a well just below the last mentioned,call- ed the "west well."
W. B. Culbertson bored a couple of wells above this, on Section 30, and Nathaniel Ayers one on Section 17, now the Patterson property.
Besides these, other wells, "too numerous to mention," were sunk, few of which were produc- tive, and none of which are now in operation.
UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH.
The first evangelist of this denomination, was Rev. John Russell, who preached to "a hand- ful of the saints," in the humble dwelling of Ja- cob Baker. He organized a class at this time, but we are unable to give the names of those who there assembled, and cannot say, with cer- tainty, what year they met, but tradition asserts that it was about the year 1820. The seed sown must have fallen on good ground, for the same authority declares that, about the year 1822. the Rev. -- Harding came, and preached three years, in the same house ; and in 1825, this house was deemed too small, and they moved to the Duncan school-house, and were ministered to by "old Father Hastings" for two years. In 1830, they were served by Elder Case and others, un- til, in 1852, they built a hewed log house, on the
premises of Robert Prescott. This house was built during the administration of Rev. David Shrader, and its dimensions were twenty-five by thirty feet. The Trustees were : Shrader, Whit- aker, Stockdale, and Levi Marcellus.
The society numbered eight or ten members- Jacob Baker and wife, Stockdale and wife, Pres- cott and wife, and perhaps several more. They worshiped in this house until June, 1876, when, under the second administration of the Rev. Samuel Whitmore, William Aichle, "Pal" Ba- ker, and Jacob Eppley, Sr., were constituted a Board of Trustees, and, in the town of Taylors- ville, Muskingum county, Ohio, a house, thirty by forty, was erected, and dedicated on Sabbath, the 27th of August, 1876, by Rev. William Fish- er. That year, the Conference sent Reverends S. F. Altman and Daniel Folk, who took charge. of the congregation. The following year, G. W. Dearer ministered to them, and was succeed- ed by J. W. Cummings, now in his second year. The membership now numbers one hundred and four, and has a good Sunday School. We are indebted to J. W. Cummings for the foregoing data.
TAYLORSVILLE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
In the year 1830, Rev. Mr. Goff organized a class, at James Hammet's, on Duncan's run, which was subsequently changed to Taylors- ville. The members of the first class were : James Hammet and wife, Peter Sheppard and wife, James Seright and wife, Daniel Dutro and wife, James Neff and wife, Silas White and wife, Robert Sheppard and wife, Robert Prescott, Sr., and wife, Sanford Burdott and wife, Lucy Ba- ker, Jacob Baker, and Rhoda Hammet. The class-leader was James Hammet.
For several years the meetings were held in such buildings as could be procured, until 1840, when a meeting-house was erected on lots six and seven, block thirty-six. This was a frame building, forty by fifty, and was dedicated by Rev. Joseph Trimble. The present number of members is one hundred and twenty. Lead- ers-David W. Seright and Aquilla Neff: Stew- ard-E. Jasper Souders.
A Sabbath School, of ninety scholars, is con- nected with this church ; E. J. Souders, Superin- tendent.
TAYLORSVILLE.
Taylorsville, the only village in the bounds of Harrison township, was laid out by James Tay- lor, in 1833, and received its name from that gen- tleman. Gearing Scarvell was the surveyor. and one of the first occupants. having resided on the premises before the town was laid out. He kept the first store : James Curran, the first hotel : William B. Rose, the first blacksmith shop : Humphrey Blake, the first shoe shop, and James McBride, the first cabinet shop.
The town, at present, contains four churches. three schools, four stores, five groceries, one tav- ern, one grist-mill, two saloons, two blacksmith shops, two tin shops, two shoe shops, one wagon
350
TOWNSHIP HISTORIES OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO.
shop, one barrel factory, and one hundred dwell- ings.
The postoffice was established here in 1850 : Dr. Ferran, Postmaster. The present officials are as follows :
Mayor-Oliver Demster.
Councilmen-Henry Moore, Frederick Young, John Barringer, Hiram Dickas, David Sullivan, and Adam Kline.
Marshal-Fred. Berkemer.
Treasurer-William Williamson.
Clerk-J. N. Krier.
Postmaster-George Howard.
Taylorsville is situated on the west bank of the Muskingum river, and occupies a gravelly bluff, ninety feet in height. It extends down the river three-fourths of a mile, and one-half mile back from the canal. The location is a beautiful and healthy one. To procure water, wells have to be sunk to a depth of eighty feet, but, when reached, it is of excellent quality.
ST. ANNA'S (CATHOLIC) CHURCH.
Taylorsville was, for a long time, a "mission," supplied from Zanesville. In the year 1836, a church was erected, on lot eight, of block twenty-nine-a frame structure, twenty-five by forty. Anthon Eberst was the contractor, and the building cost one thousand dollars. It was dedicated by Bishop Purcell.
The maximum number of members is one hun- dred and fifty ; present number, seventy-five.
Present pastor-Father Magnus Eppinck.
President-Christian Kussmaul.
Secretary-John H. Basehart.
Treasurer-William Krigbaum.
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION.
Harrison township was organized December 20th, 1839, as the following extract from the Journal of the County Commissioners will show :
"A petition was presented by John Hammond, signed by a majority of the householders resid- ing within the boundaries of the proposed new township, and the Commissioners, being satisfied that the necessary notice of such intended appli- cation had been given by advertisement, as re- quired by law, proceeded to take the matter into consideration.
"The petition set forth that they labor under many difficulties and disadvantages, in conse- quence of the distance and other difficulties they encounter, in going to and from elections ; and also praying that a new township may be set off of parts of Blue Rock, Brush Creek, and Salt Creek townships ; and the Commissioners, be- lieving it necessary for the convenience of the inhabitants and township officers, do hereby or- der a new township to be set off, according to the following boundaries, to wit :
"Beginning at the southwest corner of section number fourteen, in the original surveyed town- ship number ten, in range number thirteen, and running thence north to the center of the Mus- kingum river ; thence following down the center of said river according to the meanderings
thereof, to the line which divides the counties of Muskingum and Morgan, thence west on said line to the place of beginning-all in the Congress district of lands, which shall constitute a new township, to be called Harrison township.
"Also ordered by the Commissioners that an election be held at the house of P. Burk- halter, in Taylorsville, on the 20th inst, (being December 20th, 1839,) between the hours of eight and ten A.M., and close at four P.M., to elect township officers, according to law."
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