USA > Ohio > Richland County > History of Richland County, Ohio, from 1808 to 1908, Vol. I > Part 34
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In America all citizens, whether as rich as Croesus or as poor as Lazarus. are equal before the law. And because of our free institutions and public schools, any boy, though born in a cabin, though reated in poverty, may attain
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whatever place in life to which his ambition might lead and his ability qualify him to fill.
The history of Madison township is closely interwoven with that of Mans- field, but this sketch deals with the former, leaving the latter to succeeding chapters.
There should be a monument erected to mark the site of the first cabin that future generations may know where the first settler in Richland county founded a home. The locality is of additional historical interest from the fact that the first town in the county was to have been located there, and there the first mills were built, and one of the first and the most prominent and impor- tant of the several blockhouses in the county was erected there. This block- house is known in history as "Beam's blockhouse."
During the war of 1812 forts and blockhouses were necessary to protect the settlers from the Indians, who were aided and abetted by the British against the pioneers. This barbarous mode of warfare was also employed by Great Britain in the War of the Revolution, and was denounced by Lord Chatham in a speech in parliament.
Blockhouses were square, heavy, double-storied buildings, with the upper story extending over about two feet all around. They also projected slightly over the stockade, commanding all the approaches thereto, so that no lodg- ment could be made against the pickets of which the stockade was built to set them on fire or to scale them. They were also pierced with port-holes for musketry. The roof sloped equally from each side upward, and was sur- mounted at the center by a quadrangular structure called the sentry-box. This box was the post of observation, affording, from its elevated position, an extensive view on all sides. In times of threatened attacks the whole settlement would seek the safety and protection of the blockhouses. Many were the tragedies witnessed by the pioneers, whose courage and devotion should ever be held in memory: It has been related that evening roll call was an impor- tant as well as an amusing part of the day's programme at a blockhouse. At roll call men and boys, assuming different tones of voice, would loudly answer to fictitious names added to the list, so that if Indians were prowling about meditating an attack they would think the blockhouse was well garrisoned.
The Beam blockhouse stood on the east side of the Rockyfork, a few rods north of the grist mill. It was used as a military post during 1812, 1813 and 1814. Thirteen soldiers died there during its occupancy and are buried on a beautiful knoll on the bank of the Rockyfork, a half mile below the mills.
In 1812, when the Indians were being removed from Greentown to Piqua, and while temporarily encamped at Mansfield, an Indian named Toby escaped, but was captured and killed near where the Leesville-West Fourth street- road crosses the Toby run, which takes its name from the Indian. There was a military order to shoot any Indian who tried to escape, and a party of scouts, obeying the order-as soldiers are required to do-fired upon the fleeing savage, and he was buried where he fell. The name is the Indian "Toby"- not the German "Touby."
A month or two later Levi Jones was killed by the Indians. Jones kept a grocery store upon the site now known as the Sturges corner, and the Indians
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had pawned some articles with him, and because he refused to give them up without pay they assassinated him as he was passing along North Main street, near the foot of the hill.
After the close of the war of 1812 some of the Indians returned to Rich- land county, but Greentown having been destroyed, they had no fixed habita- tion here. Two young "braves" by the names of Seneca John and Quilipetoxe, came to Mansfield and got on a spree, and at the Williams tavern, at the site of the present Southern Hotel, got into trouble with some of the settlers. The Indians left late in the afternoon. intoxicated and swearing vengeance against the whites. They were followed by five settlers, who overtook the redskins about a mile east of town, and in the battle that ensued both Indians were killed and their bodies buried in the ravine east of the Sherman hill, on the Ashland road, and the place has since been called Spooks' Hollow. The Wooster road then passed through Spooks' Hollow. It now runs a half mile south of its first location. In former years many tales were told of apparitions that had been seen in Spooks' Hollow. But the Indians seem to be "keeping quiet" there now.
Coming to later years, the Finney murder, in Madison township, south of Mansfield, was committed on the night of December 6, 1877. For this foul and bloody crime Edward Webb, a brutal negro, was hanged May 31. 1878, in the presence of over ten thousand people. William S. Finney, the mur- dered man, was an uncle of County Commissioner Finney.
While the Beam mills were the first in the country, others were erected within a few years thereafter. Among the number was the Keith mills, erected by the father of Judge H. D. Keith. The location of this mill was near the junction of Rocky run with the Spring mills, or main branch of the Rocky- fork, in the vicinity of the recent Baltimore & Ohio railroad accident. This mill was operated for about fifty years, but is now a thing of the past.
Where and how to get grain ground were questions that confronted Madison township pioneers. It required both capital and millwrights to erect grist mills, and as both were scarce mills were not numerous. The first settlers frequently went to the Clinton mills, a mile north of Mount Vernon, to have their grain ground into breadstuff. Expedients were often employed, such as grating corn into meal for mush, or grinding the grains by hand between two fat stones. A power mill, when it came, with runs of buhrs, was a blessing to the settlers.
The first mill in Mansfield was located where the county jail now stands. It was built by Clement Pollock. It was a tread-mill, operated by three yoke of oxen. The mill was duplex-it ground corn and sawed himber. Robert Pollock erected and operate a carding mill on East Fourth street, near Adams street. It was propelled by horse-power, and simply made "rolls"-prepared wool for the spinning wheel.
John Wright built a saw mill on Toby's run in 1820 in the vicinity of Mulberry street. Later, Henry Leyman built a grist mill where the old oil mill now stands, on West Sixth street. Thomas Clark built a sawmill on Toby's run. west of the Baltimore & Ohio depot.
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Jacob Bender, the grandfather of Jacob Laird. had a carding mill on the new state road, propelled by the water of the Laird spring, now known as the upper reservoir. The spring had an output of four hundred gallons a minute.
The Tingley woolen mills, just north of the Ohio reformatory, was one of the early industries in that line.
The Painter woolen mills, east of Mansfield on the Sherman hill road, came early and stayed late-was operated for many years. Its propelling power was water from the Painter or Bender springs.
The Bartley mill, on the Rockyfork, east of Mansfield, served its day and purpose, and then, like others mentioned, passed away.
Archaeologically and prehistorically, Ohio is richer than any other state in the Union, and Madison township has its fair share of such remains, as would be shown was the bibliography of its earthworks and relics fully given. Prehistoric earthworks are usually called "Indian Mounds," which is a mis- nomer, for the Indians never made them. These earthworks were erected many years before the Indians came. And all prhistoric earthworks may not have been erected by the same race of people. Ohio was inhabited even prior to the coming of the "Mound Builders," as archaeological discoveries show there were people here before the close of the pre-glacial period. Palaeolithic implements-unquestionably of human manufacture-have been found near Loveland and other places-similar to others found in the east-showing that in Ohio, as well as on the Atlantic coast, pre-glacial men existed and manu- factured implements such as were necessary for their pursuits and vocations. When the age of the Mound Builders is reckoned by centuries, that of the pre-glacial race must be counted by thousands of years.
The most extensive prehistoric earthwork in this part of Ohio is the "fort" on the Balliett farm, in the vicinity of Spooks' Hollow, east of the Sher- man hill, in Madison township. This earthwork was surveyed in 1878 by the county surveyor, John Newman, who made a report of the same to the Smith- sonian Institution at Washington, and also made his report a matter of county record. This work is upon an elevation at the east side of the head of Spooks' Hollow, and consists of an oval-shaped embankment or fort, five hundred and ninety-four feet long by two hundred and thirty-eight feet wide in the center, and contains two and two-thirds acres. Southwest of the fort seven hundred and ten feet there is a spring at the side of the ravine from which a copious flow of water issues at all seasons of the year. Directly south of the fort, upon the side of the hill leading to the old stage road, is the "furnace," which is an excavation walled with stone like a well. It is called a "furnace," as charcoal, charred bones and evidences that fire had been used there were found at the bottom of the drift with which the place was filled. This furnace is about five feet across, is circular in form and its uses and purposes must be conjectured. At the east side of the "fort" there were a number of depressions varying from four to twenty feet, but they have been so filled up in the tilling of the land as to be nearly obliterated. In excavating one of these depressions at the time of the survey at a depth of eight feet a drift was struck leading toward the fort. Geographically, the fort was platted upon longitudinal lines and upon geo- metrical measurements, and the depressions were variously located with relative
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mathematical distances, all giving evidences that the people who planned and made and occupied these works were well advanced in the higher branches of mathematics. Since their day and occupancy large forest trees have grown upon these earthworks-trees of at least six centuries growth. These works are relics of a prehistoric age of which much has been written and but little is known.
Geologically, Madison has interesting features, the most notable of which is its inexhaustible stores of stones of the Waverly conglomerate. The quarries just east of Mansfield yield good building stones, although not equal, perhaps. to the Berea on the north, nor to the more homogeneous and finer-grained sandstones of the Waverly, further south. The peculiarly variegated coloring of the stones from these Madison township quarries make beautiful window- caps, sills and corners, and also fine looking building fronts.
Madison township is an interesting subject for both choragraphers and topographers in its location and in its environments, its surface and its physi- cal features and outlines, being situate in the center of Richland county and on the crest of the "Divide," with hills and valleys and rocks and streams, and although it has neither extended plains nor high mountains, it has an undu- lating surface and beautiful landscapes in charming variety.
From the western slope of the Sherman hill, on the Ashland road, an ex- cellent view can be had of Mansfield, and from the top of the hill, looking south, down along Spooks' Hollow, a valley of garden-like beauty is presented, and the landscape-picture extends for miles, embracing some of the Washing- ton township hills.
From the Tingley hill, on the Olivesburg road, a good view is also obtained of Mansfield, including the adjacent country to the north and west. A news- paper man had occasion recently to visit that part of Madison township lying northeast of the city. Leaving the car at the reformatory grounds he walked up the Tingley hill, halting occasionally to look back and around at the city and its environments. He tramped along, passing Hancock's Heights and Excelsior Hall schoolhouse, and the homes of Sol Harnley, Fred Nixon and others, to the Charles B. Tingley cottage on the hill, from which, looking down the slope and over the city, a beautiful picture was presented that morn- ing, the view terminating in the hazy west, with forms lying across the dim horizon, which might be low-lying clouds or distant hills. The morning sun was touching the scene with its warming rays, dispelling the mist that had hung over the city at the dawn. From the contemplation of this view and from the historical reminiscences the scene recalled, the knight of the pencil turned to meet Mr. Tingley and family and to receive the cordial greeting they extended to their guests.
Nearly opposite Charles B. Tingley's is the home of Sanmiel Nail, who . might almost be called a pioneer. Miss Anna Ettinger, of Chicago, a relative of the Nails, owns five acres of land on the brow of the hill and is having the grounds platted by a landscape gardener, and will build a cottage there with the intention of spending the summers at that rural retreat, which will be one of the finest suburban homes in Richland county.
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Adjoining the Nail place on the north is the farm of Thomas Tingley, and where his father lived before him. Thomas Tingley, the present owner, was born upon this farm October, 1822, and is, therefore, over eighty years of age, but his mind is clear, of excellent memory, and has the old style cordiality and candor of the pioneer period in which he was born. Mr. Tingley lives in the two-story brick house built by his father over seventy years ago. It is the first brick residence built in Madison township. Back in the "forties" Mr. Tingley hauled grain to the lake markets and relates many interesting inci- dents connected with his trips.
The Tingley farm will ever be prominent in the history of the county, as a part of it was a military camp during the War of the Rebellion.
In July, 1861, a military camp for organization and instruction was established upon this Tingley farm and called Camp Mordecai Bartley, in honor of Mordecai Bartley, who had been a soldier in the war of 1812, had represented the Richland district eight years in congress and later was governor of Ohio. In this camp the Fifteenth and the Thirty-second Ohio infantry rendezvoused, but were later transferred to Camp Dennison. For convenience the name was changed to "Camp Mansfield."
The One Hundred and Second Ohio infantry went into Camp Mansfield August 18, 1862, and remained until September 4, when they left for the front with 1,041 men, rank and file.
The One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio infantry went into Camp Mans- field August 29, 1862, where the "boys" drilled and prepared for the service which awaited them at the front. They left camp October 25 with 949 men.
The late James Purdy began the draft on the morning of October 1, 1862, and 236 men were drawn to fill the deficit in Richland county's quota.
Ohio had been divided into eleven military districts. The tenth district was composed of Ashland, Erie, Huron, Holmes, Richland and Wayne counties, and of this district Camp Mansfield was the military camp, and thus Madison township has the distinction of having had the headquarters of the Tenth Ohio military district within her borders during the Civil War. Of this camp the late W. S. Hickox was quartermaster and Thomas Tingley was the sutler.
At the close of the draft over 4,000 men were sent to Camp Mansfield.
The land upon which Camp Buckingham was located, where the Sherman brigade was in camp, is now a part of the Second ward of the city of Mans- field, and does not, therefore, come within the scope of a Madison township sketch.
What scenes a visit to old Camp Mansfield recall! Forty years and more ago preparations for war were witnessed which made it seem as though life had been very commonplace before. Public meetings were held, patriotic songs were sung and eloquent speeches were made, and enlisting went on, more eloquent in its silence than were the speeches and songs. Recruits "donned the blue" to fight for the preservation of the union of the states. The city of Mansfield blossomed out in flags and banners; they floated from almost every house and well nigh canopied the streets. Amid cheers and prayers and tears troops went off to the front to fight their country's battles and to uphold the
BAA
CENAHOLM.BRY.MENSFIELD
VIEW ON WEST FOURTH STREET, MANSFIELD
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starry flag. Anon, funeral pageants passed along the streets where a few months before troops had gaily marched. For whenever possible the remains of those whose lives went out in camp or field were brought home and were buried by the side of kindred, and each recurring Memorial Day their graves are decorated with flowers.
The Tingley schoolhouse-called "Excelsior Hall" since the change of location-was often used for religious gatherings and the Rev. Harry O. Sheldon, the Methodist circuit rider, who preached in Mansfield as early as 1818, frequently conducted services there, as also did other ministers of later years. Ministers did not read essays in those days-they preached. And their preaching was effective and powerful. Upon one occasion when a minister was discoursing upon "hell" (they gave it to them straight then ), he told them the devil was at that moment outside the building rattling his chains. His eloquence and word pictures had so held and swayed the audience that many thought they really heard chains clanking.
Singing was a prominent part in religious gatherings in the days of the pioneers. It was of the old style congregational singing. The church music of today may be more artistically rendered-more operatic with spectacular displays-but it is the old-time tunes, as our mothers sang them, that comfort us in our sorrows and sustain us in our trials.
To the pioneer preachers civilization owes much, and it has been truth- fully said that it is due to the influence of these worthy inen that the passions of the pioneers, stimulated by the continual cruelties and outrages of their savage foemen, did not degenerate into a thirst for revenge and a barbarous retaliation, and their respect for these sacred teachings has been perpetuated in their descendants, along with a chivalrous courage and a contempt for every- thing base and mean. A high moral tone has ever pervaded the children sprung from these early settlers, in whose own lives the spiritual truths of religion had taken root.
Within the memory of persons now living, country people would start for church Sunday barefooted, carying their shoes and stockings tied in a hand- kerchief until they got near the meeting-house, when they would stop and put them on.
In those early days wheat often brought but twenty-five cents a bushel and the only market for it was at the lake, where it had to be hauled by wagons, taking nearly a week to make the trip. Ginseng sold for twenty-five cents a pound, and often more. It was found in the woods, dug. cut into pieces and strung upon strings to dry ; then it was ready for the market and shipped cast. Cash was paid for ginseng and beeswax. Coffee then cost fifty cents a pound. It could not be bought without ginseng, beeswax or money. Most families made it a point to have store coffee on Sunday or when they had company; other times they used "coffee" made from burnt rye or wheat.
A pioncer stated that people who have spent their lives in an old-settled country can form but a faint idea of the privations and hardships endured by the first settlers of our now flourishing and prosperous state. That when he emigrated he was a young man, without any property, trade or profession, and entirely dependent on his own industry for a living. He purchased a
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tract of new land on credit two miles from any house or road and built a pole cabin. He got a loaf of bread, a piece of pickled pork, some potatoes, borrowed a frying pan and commenced housekeeping. He had no company by days, but the wolves and owls gave him a concert by night. In time he persuaded a young woman to tie her destiny to his. He built a log house twenty feet square, which was considered quite large and aristocratic in those days. He said he was fortunate enough to possess a jackknife; with that he made a wooden knife and two wooden forks, which answered for the two to eat with. He made a bedstead of poles-poles for posts, for side rails and for springs, and upon the latter he placed a straw bed, which answered the purpose and upon which, he said, they slept soundly. In time, a yard and a half of calico was wanted and he went ten miles on foot to the nearest town to procure it. But he had no money and could not get credit, and therefore the calico could not be obtained. Upon his return home he reported his failure, whereupon his wife suggested that he had a thin pair of pantaloons which would make a decent frock. The pants were cut up, the frock made and in due time the child was dressed. The family became wealthy and prominent.
"Old times have gone, old manners changed."
Providence crowned the labors of the pioneers with success and they had enough to eat and to wear. Of course, their wants were few and simple and the products of the soil and hunting yielded a sufficient supply. They spun and wove the fabrics for their clothing and the law of kindness and good- will governed their actions.
In the early settlement of a new country there is to be found a larger development of a true and brotherly love and magnanimity than in any other place or under any other conditions.
PERRY TOWNSHIP
Leipsic township was organized in 1818 and embraced the territory of the present Perry and a part of Congress township, the latter now in Morrow county. The first officers of the new township were sworn into office Sep- tember 28, 1816, as follows: Trustees, John Cook, James Huntsman and John Coon; clerk, Jonathan Huntsman; supervisors, Philip Stealts and Benjamin Hart; overseers of the poor, George Goss and Lawrence Lamb; fence viewers, Henry Sams and Caleb Selby.
On October 11, 1816, the name of the township was changed from Leipsic to Perry. As it had formerly been allied with Jefferson and there was an indebtedness of $54.94, each township assumed one-half the amount, $27.47. The administration of public affairs was not expensive in those years. Hart, for his pay as supervisor of the west half of the township, received 75 cents for his services.
Perry retained the boundary given it in 1816 until June 5, 1825, when it was reduced to six miles square-the original survey-and the western thirty-six sections received the name of Congress.
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Morrow county was created (in part out of Richland) in 1848, and Perry was again divided and reduced to its present limits-six miles long and three miles wide-and contains eighteen sections of its original terri- tory. The central part of the township is rolling tableland, with an elevation that makes a watershed divide between the Clearford of the Mohican on the north and Owl creek (the Kokosing) on the south.
A considerable portion of Perry township is a beech-wood country, and when first settled the land was covered with decayed vegetable accumulation that made the surface look invitingly fertile. All the ordinary crops are successfully grown, but upon the upland where the soil is argillaceous, care must be taken to maintain its fertility.
Perry township has a very interesting history; some of the events and incidents may be mentioned in this connection. The first house in the town- ship was built on section 11, in 1809, by John Frederick Herring, who also built a grist mill at the same place, the second mill put in operation in Richland county. This mill was on the south branch of the Clearfork, four miles west of Bellville, where the Lexington-Fredericktown and the Bellville- Johnsville roads cross. It was known for fifty years as the Hanawalt mill, but after serving well its day and purpose for about three-fourths of a century, it is now no more.
The Eby mill was built in 1837, was operated thirty-seven years, and stood farther up the stream. Frairie's woolen factory was run successfully for many years, and a grist mill was formerly operated at the same locality, where the Walters bridge spans the south branch.
A number of both grist and saw mills were erected in the township and did a flourishing business for years, but the shrinkage of the streams lessened the water power with which the mills were operated, and, with the change in business affairs and in operating methods, country mills of all kinds gen- erally went out of business.
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