USA > Ohio > Perry County > History of Perry County, Ohio > Part 8
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The writing pens used by the pupils were made of quills, and one of the cardinal requisites of every teacher was that he should be able to make a good quill pen. The teacher "boarded 'round" and if he hap- pened to be a genial sort of a personage his coming was always welcomed. Only the elements of an education were taught. The spelling-book was always required. If you were not the possessor of a Reader, any book you happened to have would serve quite as well. The Bible was read and at times the Prayer-book made a
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.
suitable reading book. It has been said that the cele- brated Hagerstown Almanac was often utilized.
In searching for the first school in Perry County, we would naturally look toward New Reading, the oldest settlement. A subscription school of three months was conducted there during the winter of 1808. But it was not the first school. It was the second. The year previous, an English school was taught about two miles east of Somerset. An English and German school was tauglit in Somerset, the very first year of the town's organization.
School was conducted within the present limits of New Lexington, before the town was laid out. The building was a log cabin that stood at the foot of Brown street, near the spring that yet sends forth its sparkling water. This was in 1815. Five years later a schiool-house was built where the McClelland Livery Barn now stands. At about the same time, the rural districts began to arouse themselves and a school began its operations near where Arthur King now lives on the Logan road. In 1830 Pike Township was divided into districts, much in the way it is divided 110W.
The first school in Madison was taught about one and a half miles south of Mt. Perry. No date can be found for this school but it evidently was quite early.
Bearfield began to have schools about 1820.
Some of the early teachers were inen who knew very little about teaching. Again there were among them some of considerable ability. They were for the most part persons who would drop into a neighbor- hood, teach their term of school and drop out again. A few remained as fixtures.
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.
In the Bethel Presbyterian Cemetery near Middle- town, is buried one of these old time pedagogues. His name was Colonel Thorn. For many years he taught at Somerset, but finally, he like all teachers must, sooner or later, dropped out of the ranks. For many years afterward he was a familiar figure with his pecu- liar "teacher ways."
Prof. Charles Nourse was for many years a prom- inent teacher. In Somerset he taught a select school, under the very dignified name of "The Somerset Col- legiate Institute." Prof. Nourse afterwards became principal of the New Lexington public schools. He was one of the examiners of Perry County, and an examination taken under him in 1866 is described as follows: "There were thirty-two applicants-ten men and twenty-two women. The applicants were ar- ranged as a class in school and the examination pro- ceeded orally. It seems that Prof. Nourse was the only examiner present. The questions were given to the head of the class and if answered correctly due credit was given, if not it was passed to the next, and so on through the class. When the examination was completed, those who had passed successfully were given certificates at once. At this examination all of the ladies received certificates, but only four of the men were successful. In giving out the certificates, the examiner, who was evidently somewhat of a ladies' man, remarked that it was no more than right to in- dulge the ladies."
Our first schools were supported from the revenue of school lands. These being insufficient, the fund was augmented by private subscription. The pioneer school law of Ohio was passed in 1821. It provided for a tax, the division of a township into districts, and
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.
the election of three men in each district to levy the tax, build the school-house, employ the teacher and be the judge of his qualifications. It was left to the option of the electors whether they would make such provisions or not. This made the district the unit and the people of Ohio still cling to that idea. In 1825, a law was passed, making it mandatory upon the town- ship trustees to divide townships into school districts, each district to elect three directors, who should build a school-house, employ a teacher, make the needful assessments and superintend the school. The teacher's qualifications were to be determined by a Board of County Examiners. In 1838 the law was enacted mak- ing the township clerk superintendent of the township schools. His duty was to visit each school at least once a year and examine all matters "touching the situation, discipline, mode of teaching, and improve- ment thereof." At least six months of good schooling was required.
In 1847 the celebrated Akron Law was passed. This gave the right, to provide "for the support and better regulation of the common schools in that town." The next year this law was made general. And still the next year the "Law of 1849" was applied to all cities and towns. Under this law the modern High School had its origin.
In 1853, a general law was passed, designating one of the sub-directors a member of the township Board of Education. It was practically as it is now with the exception that the township board had no voice in em- ploying the teacher. Its jurisdiction was only general. This law also provided for the levy of one-tenth of a mill upon the taxable property for the purpose of fur-
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.
nishing libraries and apparatus for the common schools of the state.
Under this provision $300,000 was spent during the years 1854-55-56 and 59. The books were the cream of the literature then extant and 400,000 volumes were distributed throughout the state. There was lack of system in their distribution and in many places they were allowed to be lost. The cry of economy on the part of the farmers was raised. It was for them and their children that the library was inaugurated. The law was repealed. It made no appreciable difference in the taxes of any farmer and as a consequence he had cut off his own nose to spite his face."
MADISON ACADEMY. - The glory of Madison Academy has departed. But it is still vivid in the memories of the citizens of Mt. Perry. They delight to tell of the palmy days, when their village was an educational Mecca; when their streets were filled with young men and women, who had come to drink deep at learning's fountain. Those were halcyon days - the days when William D. Harper of the Chicago Uni- versity, recited within the walls of the "Academy" and William O. Thompson of our own State University, came to Mt. Perry to attend church and Sunday School.
Madison Academy was founded in 1871under the direction of the Rev. James White. It was controlled by the United Presbyterian Church. This denomina- tion is particularly strong in that section. The Acad- emy served somewhat as a feeder for Muskingum Col- lege, at New Concord. But it had a better field of usefulness in another way. In the days before the High School era, the youth from the district school
--
الب عبدى
الجديد
MADISON ACADEMY.
SALT KETTLE OF 1826.
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.
repaired to its precincts for the benefits of a higher education. It did its work well for many years. Mad- ison Academy is of the past but its influence is of the present. The building has been turned over to the Board of Education in consideration of their main- taining a Township High School.
A school of higher education for girls, that is at- tracting some notice beyond the confines of our own county is ST. ALOYSIUS ACADEMY near New Lexing- ton. It was organized in 1876 by Sisters of the Fran- ciscan Order. It has had a steady growth, both in the number of students and influence. The buildings have been enlarged from time to time and its students go out into life with nothing but praise for the efficiency of instruction received from those sisters.
Mills.
The first manufacturing establishment of our county was the grist mill. The mills were called "corn crackers." Their motive power was the horse. There were dozens of these in the county. A little later mills were built along the streams. They were water mills and they not only ground corn and wheat but also sawed lumber. The saw resembled our modern cross- cut saw, and it stood upright. The boards could not be sawed off the logs entirely, and an ax was used to complete the work. There was hardly a stream in the county that had not several mills upon it. Jonathan Creek was "lined" with them. Hood's Run that flows from Somerset toward the Moxahala had five within as many miles. The best known of these were those of
8 H. P. C.
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.
Parkinson and Hood, near Somerset. Little Monday- creek had three within three miles. Big Mondaycreek had several, while Sundaycreek and its tributaries and the South Fork of the Moxahala and Rush Creek had their quota. These old mills have disappeared as far as their being used is concerned. The dilapidated ruins of some are yet to be seen, while in many a far- mer's field the boy of to-day looks with wonder at two great, round pieces of rock with a hole in the center of each. These are the burr stones that ground the grain for our forefathers.
The presence of so many mills along our streams in former days shows how abundant the running water was and what a change has taken place. Few of our creeks could now furnish enough water. The cutting of the timber is thought to be the cause of this change.
To James Moore of Bearfield Township, belongs the honor of being the inventor of the portable saw mill. It did its first work in Bearfield Township. It was only an eight horse power mill. but it was a great step in the evolution of the manufacture of lumber.
Oil Works.
Before the days of petroleum the tallow dip served to light the pioneer cabin. Just before the Civil War it was discovered that a vein of cannel coal, which had its outcrop in Mondaycreek Township. contained a large percentage of oil.
On Coalbrook, a branch of Little Mondaycreek a plant for the extraction of the oil was erected and for many years did a thriving business. There are yet living in Mondaycreek, many people who remember seeing the surface of the stream covered with the re- fuse oil from the Coalbrook oil works.
OLD SALT WORKS AT MCCUNEVILLE.
A TOBACCO HOUSE.
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.
A similar plant existed west of Maxville. It was more extensive and did a greater amount of business. Large kettles were used in the extraction of the oil. The abundance of petroleum coming from the Penn- sylvania oil fields made the manufacture unprofitable. The oil factories were razed to the ground and noth- ing but the burnt earth and loose stones from the old chimneys, yet remain to testify to this former Perry County industry.
The Old Salt Kettle.
The picture of the large kettle is taken from one that was used to boil salt water three-quarters of a century ago. It was used at the "salt lick" where McCuneville now stands. The Manufacture of salt began in 1826 and continued for some time. But the simplicity of manufacture was unequal to more ad- vanced methods and it was discontinued. Nothing remained but a stone chimney that stood for forty years, as a monument of days of yore. But the old kettles still exist. The writer knows of at least three, yet doing service in the way of watering troughs or for boiling water at butchering time.
The McCune Salt Works.
The picture represents the McCune Salt Works at McCuneville. When the Straitsville branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was built to Shawnee, Mr. McCune of Newark, erected a considerable plant for the manufacture of salt. He expended about $40,000 in boring wells and getting improved ma- chinery. A town sprang up and it gave every evidence of permanency. But the plant was bought by a "trust"
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.
and it shut down never to operate again. Nothing remains of these works and their past existence is like the shadow of a dream.
Tobacco Houses.
The picture represents one of the last of its kind. Fifty years ago the tobacco house was a fam- iliar object. It has since gone into decay or been con- verted into stables or sheds, till it is a difficult task to find one in a good state of preservation. It has been relegated to the past. But the sight of one, or its picture, is an object lesson in the history of the develop- ment of the county. Without it the pioneer settler would not have been able to pay his taxes, to buy the farm necessities which he himself could not produce, nor to pay for the land itself. Nothing that the pioneer could produce had such a market value as tobacco. The soil of the county, especially in the southern part, was peculiarly adapted to its growth. It had the added merit of being the easiest crop raised. A very small patch of it yielded very large returns in comparison with other crops. It could be planted among the stumps of deadened trees and be cultivated by hand. When the leaves were ready for gathering they were stripped from the stalk and strung upon long sticks. These were hung upon poles in the to- bacco houses. The houses were built very high, that the tobacco might be out of the reach of the flames. The entire upper part, reaching to the rafters was filled. Then a fire was started and the members of the family took turns at watching. It required close attention for a single spark striking the drying leaves would often set it on fire and crop and building would go up in smoke. This was always a calamity, for it
REMAINS OF A MAXVILLE LIME-KILN.
AN OLD TIME POTTERY.
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.
meant that the pioneer family would have to go with- out some things, and money would have to be borrowed to pay the taxes and probably for a payment on the land.
Rehoboth and Maxville were the tobacco emporiums of the county. Huge warehouses were erected at these places, and the business that was done in a single day, during the tobacco season, was greater than is now done in the same village, in two months. It has not been many years since the old warehouse at Maxville was razed to the ground. The tobacco house occu- pied a very prominent place in the industrial history of the county.
Lime-Kilns.
The lime-kilns of Perry County were also factors in the industrial progress of the county's early his- tory. Before the mines had begun to pour out their black streams of wealth, before the iron ores were being utilized, the lime deposits were drawn upon and changed into "coin of the realm" for their owners. With the exception of the salt. the limestone was the first mineral of the county to be used. Maxville was the center of this industry. Here in the early thirties the sub-carboniferous strata was quarried and burned. Logan, New Lexington, Lancaster and all intermedi- ate points, went to Maxville to get lime to plaster their houses. The kilns were built of stone, placed against a bank. The lime was poured through an aperture in the top, and after sufficient burning it was raked through an opening in the bottom. Once, many of these kilns were in operation at Maxville, but they have all disappeared, and their site is now known only by the presence of piles of burnt lime, around a depres- sion in the earth. The picture here shown is such a
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. HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.
representation. There were also a few kilns west of Carthon where the sub-carboniferous crops out near the tops of the hills. The last kiln ceased to operate in the county about 1885. The large quarries in the northern part of the state where the lime was more accessible, produced it more cheaply, although not better in quality.
An Old Time Pottery.
"Turn, turn, my wheel! All things must change To something new, to something strange; Nothing that is can pause or stay; The moon will wax, the moon will wane, The mist and cloud will turn to rain,
The rain to mist and cloud again,
To-morrow be to-day." - Longfellow.
The poet makes the potter sing truly, when he says,
"All things must change, To something new, to something strange, v Nothing that is can pause or stay."
There is no industry in which that truth is more manifest than in the manufacture of pottery itself. True, a great deal of the product is yet shaped by hand, but the large concerns at Crooksville, employing scores of men, the work being done by machinery that turns out thousands where dozen were originally produced, is in sharp contrast to the "old timers," where the clay was ground by the family horse, and the wheel was turned by the foot. The kilns were but overgrown bake-ovens. Verily the world "do move."
The utilization of potter's clay has for over sixty years been an important industry in the county. As early as 1838. Caleb Atwater, Ohio's first historian, in speaking of Perry county said, "A white clay is
A GHOST OF DEPARTED INDUSTRY, BAIRD FURNACE.
MODEL COAL MINE, CONGO.
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.
found in abundance, suitable for pots and crucibles. It stands the heat very well, growing whiter when it is exposed to the greatest heat. It will one day be used extensively in the manufacture of Liverpool earthen- ware. It contains no iron and is almost infusible be- fore the blow-pipe."
The neighborhood of Saltillo has furnished earth- enware for a long time. Along Buckeye Creek and the South Fork of Jonathan, the potteries were fre- quent. About the time of the Civil War. a pottery was conducted in Mondaycreek. It produced a good qual- ity of ware.
Caleb Atwater's prophecy has proved to be true. The clays of Perry county are the best in the world. The manufacture of brick, stoneware or Portland cement can here be made a source of great profit. The abundance of clay, the presence of the coal fields. and the railroad facilities are making Perry county famous in the clay business. Perry county clay-ware is shipped in car lots to the states of the west and the south-west and the business bids fair to increase as the years go by.
Blast Furnaces.
"And far in the hazy distance Of that lovely night in June. The blaze from the flaming furnace Gleamed redder than the moon." - Longfellow.
At one time the flames of seven blast furnaces in our county lighted the mid-night sky. Just a few rods across the Perry-Hocking line two others poured out their molten mass of the useful metal.
The furnaces of Perry County were the first to utilize the raw coal in the production of iron.
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.
Baird Furnace, in Mondaycreek, was the pioneer Furnace in this region. Mr. Samuel Baird had charge of the old char-coal furnace at Logan and became thoroughly acquainted with the mineral resources of southern Perry. Mr. Baird purchased quite a tract of land in eastern Mondaycreek, for the purpose of manufacturing iron from the native material. Many experienced iron men thought it a rash undertaking. The site of the furnace was three miles from a rail- road. It would be expensive to get the product of his furnace to market. But Mr. Baird knew "his business." He built the furnace on an entirely new plan. The stack was placed against the hill. The coal was mined a few rods back of it and the track from the mine led to the top of the stack. The na- tive ore was taken from the hills and the Maxville and Zoar limes were used as flux.
It was asserted that pig-iron could be manufactured here cheaper than any place in the world. It was doubted. In January, 1876. the American Manufac- turer contained a description of this furnace and the following estimate of the cost of a ton of iron.
Two and three-fourths tons of coal, at 50
cents, $1,375, say .. $1 40
Two and three-fourths tons of ore, at $2.25 .. . 6 00
Three-fourths ton of limestone, at $1.30, or $1.05, say 1 10
Labor 3 00
Repairs 1 00
Interest and discount 50
Total $13 00
It is said that the iron trade at the time of the building of Baird Furnace was in a depressed state, but the price of stone-coal pig in the markets ranged
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.
from $21 to $31 per ton. This still left a large margin for profits. After one year's experience, Mr. Baird further astonished the iron men with another state- ment, as follows :
Ore from furnace land.
$3 85
Ore, if purchased
$6 00
Coal
1 60
1 60
Limestone
1 00
1 00
Labor, repairs and interest.
4 40
5 40
Totals
$13 00 $11 85
The cost of the furnace was $5,000. After con- structing the road over which the iron was hauled by oxen and counting the cost of construction as current expense. the net profits of the first year's work was $25.000 or 55 per cent of the original cost of the furnace.
It is not surprising that other furnaces soon fol- lowed. Gen. Thomas built one at Gore just across the county line.
Another one, Winona, was erected a few rods from the Perry line on Little Mondaycreek.
Moss and Marshall built the Bessie Furnace near Straitsville. This Furnace is yet running. It produces a peculiar grade of iron which is in great demand.
Three Furnaces were built in Shawnee. They were the Fannie, the XX and the New York. The latter is the only one now running. At Moxahala. another was operated until removed to Columbus. Some of these furnaces have been entirely taken away while others are falling into ruins from disuse. The discovery of larger mineral fields and the decline in the price of iron has been the cause of the abandon- ment of the extensive manufacture of iron in our county.
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.
Coal Mines.
The greatest of our industries is coal mining. No county in the State surpasses Perry in the produc- tion of coal, nor in the use of modern appliances necessary for its successful mining.
The pioneers of the county were in total ignorance of the immense wealth that lay buried beneath them. Many even did not know that there was coal here. It had no attractions for the hardy settler who found a sufficient supply of fuel in the forest around his home. He had to cut the trees down in order to have fields for cultivation. He had to burn the wood and if he could use it to warm his home he considered himself fortunate and counted it so much clear gain.
It is not known when the presence of coal in our hills was first discovered. But as early as 1816 it was used to a limited extent. It soon found its way into some of the well-to-do houses in town, public buildings, etc. Somerset got her supply from the mines in the neighborhood of St. Joseph's. Dr. Ponjade, a French- man, operated a mine near Rehoboth in 1830. At about the same time the mines of Mondaycreek and Saltlick were opened.
When the old Cincinnati, Wilmington and Zanes- ville, now the C. & M. V. Railroad, was built coal min- ing became of some importance in the neighborhood of McLuney. The coal was shipped mostly to the towns along that road.
The coal era of our county began in 1870. · Through the efforts of Col. James Taylor and others, the vast mineral resources of the county were made known to the world. Capital flowed here and rail- roads were being built. The Baltimore and Ohio ex-
POWER HOUSE AT CONGO MINE.
THE CORNING OIL FIELD.
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.
tending into Saltlick, opened up that territory and Shawnee is the result. The Hocking Valley Railroad ran a branch to Straitsville and New Straitsville be- came quite a village in a short time. The Atlantic and Lake Erie, now the Ohio Central Railroad, pene- trated into the Sundaycreek Valley, and Corning and Rendville sprang up as if by magic. The Columbus and Eastern, now the Columbus, Sandusky and Hock- ing gave Clayton township access to the world and her coal found a ready market.
The coal field is in no wise exhausted. Towns are still springing up, new mines are being opened and it will be many a day before we can say of the coal industry what we can of the iron.
The mine at Congo is one of the model mines of the country. It has been operated about ten years and tens of thousands of tons of the "Black Diamonds" have passed over its screens.
Oil Wells.
It was a fortunate thing for Corning and vicinity that petroleum was discovered when it was. In Au- gust, 1891, the Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad was suffering from a scarcity of water. A deep well was being drilled at the round house. At a depth of 630 feet salt water was struck. This could not be used. They accordingly cased off this water and bored the well to a depth of 1507 feet. They yet found no water, and work ceased for a few days, when they were surprised to find that oil had been thrown on the top of the derrick.
This discovery caused the oil men to flock to the territory and it was not long until derricks could be seen on every hill. In June. 1892, the first well was
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY.
shot in section 14, Madison township with eighty quarts of glycerine which had been brought by wagon from Sistersville, W. Va.
The oil development began about the time of the panic of 1893. Corning hardly knew what "Hard times" were. It is estimated that there has been over 1,200 producing wells in the entire field. The flow of oil is not so great as formerly. A pipe line carries the oil to Marietta, a distance of thirty-four miles. This line began operation in 1893. The oil had previously been transported in tanks on cars. When the pipe line first began to work the daily output from the field was 500 barrels. In 1896 it had increased to 1,300 barrels daily. It is now considerably less.
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