History of Richland County, Ohio : (including the original boundaries) ; its past and present, containing a condensed comprehensive history of Ohio, including an outline history of the Northwest, a complete history of Richland county miscellaneous matter, map of the county, biographies and histories of the most prominent families, &c., &c., Part 57

Author: Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Mansfield, O. : A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 968

USA > Ohio > Richland County > History of Richland County, Ohio : (including the original boundaries) ; its past and present, containing a condensed comprehensive history of Ohio, including an outline history of the Northwest, a complete history of Richland county miscellaneous matter, map of the county, biographies and histories of the most prominent families, &c., &c. > Part 57

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

idea of architectural beauty of to-day. though a hundred years from now it will no doubt be thought old fogyish and out of style. A large portion of the work on this building was done by Mansfield mechanics, and much of the mate- rial furnished by Mansfield business houses, the brick being furnished from the yard of Enoch Smith and Henry C. Hedges.

The new building gave general satisfaction. It fronts both on East Diamond and East Mar- The cost of the building, etc., was, con- ket streets. The outside of the building is of | tract, $177,000 ; extra work. $10.000; ground,

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

$16,500 ; architect, $5,000 ; gas fixtures, $1,200 ; carpet, $1,000; furniture, $7,000; paving, $2,500; clock, $2,700 ; iron fence, $1,500; bell, $1,300; improvement of lot, $1,000; total, $226,700.

The jails of Richland County have been three in number. The first two have been referred to in the preceding pages on the court houses -the first one having been in the old hewed block-house, which was used partly for that pur- pose from 1813 to 1816, when the log court house was erected, the lower part of which was built and used for a jail. This was the county jail until 1827, when it was taken away for the purpose of erecting the first brick court house on its site; and about this time, the present jail was erected, on the corner of Third and Sugar streets, which has now seen more than a half-century of service. It was a good, substantial brick building, and has been several times repaired and added to. Since the build- ing of the new court house, the subject of erecting a new jail has been continually agi- tated-the old one being too far away from the court house and not up to the requirements of the time. The Commissioners have purchased ground for the new jail, adjoining the court- house lot on the south. During the fall of 1879, the buildings on this ground were re- moved, the ground graded down, and, during

the year 1880, it is proposed to creet a jail with all modern improvements.

The infirmary of Richland County was erected, in 1845-46, on the northwest quarter of Section 25, in Weller Township. Before the erection of this building, the paupers and insane of the county had been " farmed out"- that is, the Commissioners had found homes for them wherever they could among the farm- ers and people of the county, paying a stipu- lated sum each year for their maintenance. The Commissioners, at the time of the erection of the infirmary, were William Taggart, Will- iam B. Hammett and John McCool. They purchased a quarter-section of land from Na- thaniel Osborn, for which they paid $3,000. The building was a substantial brick structure, and was finished in the fall of 1846, the Com- missioners appointing Samuel Linn, of Frank- lin ; John Meredith, of Madison, and Richard Condon, of Mifflin, first Directors, who were to hold their offices until others could be elected. Lowery Sibbett, of Mansfield, was the first Su- perintendent. In June, 1878, this infirmary building was destroyed by fire, and, at the October election of the same year, the people voted to build a new one, which has been in course of erection during the last year, and is now completed.

HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

391

CHAPTER XL.

A LIST OF THE COUNTY OFFICERS FROM 1813 TO 1880.

T THE following is a complete list of the officers of Richland County from the organization of the county government in 1813, down to the present time :

County Treasurers-Levi Jones. 1813; John Pugh, 1813; Samuel Williams, no record show- ing term of service ; William Timberlake, no record showing term of service ; Mordecai Bart- ley, no record showing term of service; Syl- vanus B. Day, 1823; John Murray, 1836; Robert Cowan, 1842; Andrew Conn, 1846; Jno. B. Drennan, 1852; David McCullough, 1856; Thomas Willett, 1858; Thomas J. Robinson, 1860 ; Thomas Willett, 1862; John M. Jolley, 1864; Thomas J. Robinson, 1866; Hugh W. Patterson, 1868; Henry Rowland, 1872 ; Thos. Willett,# 1873 ; John A. Lee. 1874; Merchant Carter. 1877.

County Auditors-James Hedges, 1821 ; John Stewart, 1822; Samuel G. Wolf, 1829; Benjamin Gass, 1833; John S. Marshall, 1837 ; John Meredith, 1841 ; John M. Rowland, 1845 ; Willard S. Hickox, 1849 ; Jesse Williams, 1853 ; John J. Douglass, 1857 : Jonas Smith, 1861 ; Samuel Snyder, 1865 ; Mark McDermott, 1869 ; L. F. Harrington,t 1873; M. D. Ward, 1877.

Clerks of Common Pleas-Andrew Coffin- berry, 1813; Winn Winship, 1815; Ellzey Hedges, 1820; Jared Irwin, 1834; Elijah W. Lake, 1838; William W. Irwin, 1846; Calvin A. Croninger, 1852 ; William S. Higgins, 1854 ; George B. Harmon, 1857; Isaac Crum, 1857; Eckles McCoy, 1861; William. Ritter, 1861;

* Appointed by Commissioners to fill the unexpired term of Henry Rowland.

+ In the year 1877, the Legislature changed the term of office to three years.

George B. Harmon, 1867; W. S. Bradford, 1874; Thomas T. Dill. 1877.

Sheriffs of the County-John Wallace. 1813; James Moore, 1816 ; Henry H. Wilcoxon, 1820 ; Samuel G. Wolf. 1825; Matthew Kelly, 1829 ; George Armentrout, 1833; John McCullough, 1837; David Bryte, 1841 ; William Kerr, 1843; William B. Hammett, 1847 ; Frederick Warf, 1851; David Wise, 1853; George Weaver, 1859; John W. Strong, 1863; Nelson Ozier, 1864; Isaac Fair, 1865; Robert Moore,* 1869; J. J. Dixon, 1872; James Richie, 1878.

County Commissioners - Samuel McCluer, 1813; Melzar Tannehill, 1813: Samuel Wat- son, 1813 ; Michael Beam. 1814 ; Isaac Osbun. 1818; Robert Bentley, 1820 ; Barthel William- son, 1820 ; Alexander Curran, 1820 ; Samuel McCluer, 1821 ; James Iledges, 1821 ; Linus Hayes, 1821 ; Thomas Coulter, 1822 ; James Heney, 1823 ; Solomon Gladden, 1824 ; Spooner Ruggles. 1824; James Larimer, 1830 ; John Oldshne. 1831 ; William Taylor, 1832 ; Henry Keith, 1835; Joshua Canon, 1836 ; Daniel Campbell, 1837 ; William Taggart, 1841 ; Will- iam B. Hammett, 1842 ; John MeCool. 1843 ; Thomas B. Andrews, 1845 ; Jesse W. David- son, 1847 ; Robert Leech, 1848 ; James W. MeKee, 1848; Thomas B. Andrews, 1849 ; Jonathan Montgomery. 1850; James Lang- ham, 1852; Willard S. Hickox, 1854; John Ramsey, 1854; Charles Anderson, 1856 ; Ben- jamin Morris, 1859; Leonard Swigart, 1860; James Thompson, 1861 ; Henry Cline, 1862 ; David Taylor, 1866; John T. Keith, 1867;

* Died during his second term of office, and J. J. Dixon was appointed to fill the unexpired term.

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

Daniel M. Snyder, 1868 ; W. R. Newlon, 1872 ; Peter Snapp, 1874 ; James Boals, 1874 ; John F. Gerhart, 1878.

County Recorders - Andrew Coffinberry, 1813; Winn Winship, 1815; Matthias Day, 1820; John Reed, 1832 ; William W. Irwin, 1838; James D. Summers, 1844; James E. Cox, 1847 ; Eckels McCoy, 1853; James E. Cox, 1859; Elijah Clark, 1865 ; A. J. Littler, 1871; J. S. Bollman, 1877.

Probate Judges-Joel Myers, 1852; John Meredith, 1858; M. W. Worden, 1864; Joel Myers, 1867; H. D. Keith, 1873; E. McCoy, 1879.

County Surveyors-The following list em- braces the successive County Surveyors, from the organization of the county : First, William Riddle ; second, John Stewart; third, Christian Wise ; fourth, Joseph Hastings ; fifth, T. J. North ; sixth, Warren Scranton ; seventh, John Newman.

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

CHAPTER XLI.

BLOOMING GROVE TOWNSHIP.

ORGANIZATION-PHYSICAL FEATURES-SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS-PIONEER INCIDENTS AND ADVENTURES-THE STONER AND FOULKS FAMILIES-MILLS-SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES-TRUCKSVILLE-ROME-SHENANDOAH.

B LOOMING GROVE TOWNSHIP was organized March 4, 1816, out of Madi- son Township, then eighteen miles square. When first erected, it was eighteen miles long, from east to west, and twelve miles wide, and included the west half of what is now Butler, all of the present Blooming Grove, Cass, Ply- mouth, Sharon, Jackson, Franklin, Anburn and Vernon (both now in Crawford County), and the west half of Weller, and contained two hundred and sixteen square miles. It remained in that form until June 4, 1816, when a square block was taken out of the southeast corner and called Franklin, leaving Blooming Grove in the shape of an L. In this irregular form it remained until February 2, 1818, when Ply- mouth and Sandusky Townships were created, leaving Blooming Grove six miles square, con- stituting Township 23, Range 18. The forma- tion of Ashland County, in 1846, left part of Clear Creek Township in Richland County, which was at first attached to Blooming Grove ; but Butler Township being created February 5, 1849, this was attached to it. and Butler also took two tiers of sections from the east part of Blooming Grove, leaving the latter in its pres- ent shape-four by six miles in extent.

The soil of the northern and central parts is clayey, and the surface' gently rolling. The southern part was somewhat marshy in an early day, a large part of it being covered with water a portion of the year, with here and there a small pond or lake which retained the water during the entire year. Since its settle-

ment, this part has been thoroughly drained, and now constitutes some of the finest farming land in the county, though, during a freshet, the waters of the Black Fork yet overflow and cover extensive bottoms, rendering them useless for agricultural purposes.

The township was once densely wooded, the timber being beech, white oak, hickory, black walnut, sugar and some other varieties.

The dividing ridge between the head-waters of the Muskingum and those of the Huron and Vermillion Rivers, which flow into the lake, passes diagonally across the township from east to west, a little north of its center. The Black Fork and its tributaries drain all the southern part, the main body of that stream entering at the southeast corner, making a bend north and passing ont near the center of its southern boundary line.

It does not appear that the Indians occupied any permanent camp within its limits, but it was used extensively by the Wyandots and Delawares for a hunting-ground. The numer- ons and beautiful sugar-tree groves (from which the name of the township is derived) rendered it a delightful camping and hunting ground during the spring and summer; and small parties of Indians were often encamped in some part of it, either hunting or making sugar.

The first road in the township was cut by the army of Gen. Beall, in the summer of 1812. It entered the township at Shenandoah, pass- ing northwest, through the present site of Rome,

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

and continuing on toward Shiloh, in Cass Township. It is now a much-traveled highway. It was along this road that the larger part of the early settlers entered the township. Many of these early settlers accompanied the army of Beall, and thus saw for the first time the beauties and advantages of their future home. Among these were George Hackett and Peter Maring ; the former in the capacity of scout and guide, and the latter as a pioneer, assist- ing to cut the road. Some of the first settlers entered their land as early as 1813 and 1814, but no actual settlement was made, so far as known, until 1814. The settlers who came first were Jacob and John Stoner, and a Mr. McCart. They followed "Beall's trail " in their search for homes in the woods ; the Stoners settling on Section 22, and McCart on Section 30. The widow of John Stoner's son now occupies the old place ; and the McCart farm is now owned by a Mr. Sowders.

In 1815, George Hackett, before mentioned, came, settling on Section 19-his grandson, William Hackett, now owns the farm. Daniel and James Ayers, William Trucks and Richard Sloman also came, settling near the present site of the village of Ganges. In the spring of 1816, William Guthrie came from Harrison County, Ohio (formerly from Pennsylvania), settling on Section 18. This farm is now occu- pied by his grandsons-Ransom F. and Arkin- son B. Guthrie. Henry Stoner came at the same time, settling on Section 15.

From this time forward. the township settled up more rapidly. John Wolph came in April, 1817 ; Samuel Zeigler in 1817, settling on Sec- tion 17; William Shurr, Section 32, 1817 ; Peter Maring, Section 7, 1817 ; Thomas Dick- inson entered his land on Section 7, in January, 1819, but did not occupy it until 1822. His son, Thomas Dickinson, owns and occupies the same farm at present. Other early settlers were Benjamin Krummel, who settled on the farm now occupied by Robert Meeks, who came

in 1825; John McGaw, John Cleland and Thomas Thompson -the last three arriving about 1822-23, and settling in the eastern part of the township. William McIntire and Jacob Walker were here as early as 1818. Daniel Quinn, Charles Saviers, Robert and John Cum- mings, Andrew Paul, Jacob Greece, Joseph Sonenstine, Henry Young and Wilson Lindsey were among the earliest settlers in the vicinity of present site of Shenandoah. George Latti- mer and Christian Ehret settled near the pres- ent site of Rome.

It is believed that Mr. McCart erected the first cabin in the township, though there could have been little difference in time between the erection of his cabin and that of the Stoners.

Mr. Guthrie says, that upon his father's farm was a beautiful camping-ground, used by the Indians upon their hunting excursions. They had erected, in a sugar grove which occupied a high piece of ground, an open-ended cabin, which they used as headquarters. Here they sang their songs, danced, and smoked their pipes in the evening, and hunted and lounged during the day. They were happy and peace- ful, but their hunting grounds were soon taken from them and their game driven away.

He relates an adventure of his brother John with wolves, which is illustrative of pioneer times. John had been on a visit to a neigh- bor's house, a Mr. Long, who lived in the terri- tory now included in Cass Township, and dark- ness came upon him before he reached home. He was riding a spirited horse, and accompa- nied by a half-wolf dog. The path was narrow and winding. Just before reaching home, his horse and dog scented danger ahead. The former snorted and was inclined to stop, and the latter whined nervously and kept closely under the horse's feet. Guthrie, peering through the darkness, observed dark forms flitting across the path, and knew he was close upon a gang of wolves. They had gathered in the path in front of him.

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

While urging his horse to advance, a wolf that had separated itself from the rest, suddenly sprang at the horse or dog from the roadside. The frightened animal sprang so quickly to one side that Guthrie was unhorsed, and falling upon the ground was immediately attacked by the wolf. Without a doubt, he would have been torn in pieces instantly, but his faithful dog. which had before shown signs of fear, now came to his rescne, attacking the wolf with great ferocity, compelling the latter to release his hold of Guthrie and defend himself. All this occurred in a moment's time, and Mr Guthrie had just time to swing himself into a tree when the remainder of the pack surrounded his faithful dog, which was getting the better of wolf number one. Other wolves came up and attacked the dog, which was thus compelled to release the first one. As soon as released, it sprang up and ran away, followed by the dog and the entire pack. Mr. Guthrie improved this opportunity to descend from the tree and make his escape. He reached home in safety, and soon after his dog also arrived in good con- dition. No wonder that the pioneers consid- ered their dogs invaluable, as in hundreds of cases they saved their masters' lives, and were always ready at any time to risk their own for that purpose.

The wolves were only troublesome and somewhat dangerous when the settlements were few and far between. They especially loved young pigs, and would kill them in prefer- ence to the older hogs. At first it was almost impossible to keep hogs or sheep. The settlers were in the habit of keeping as many males as possible among the swine, as these, when they grew up, would defend the younger and weaker animals. Wolves were rarely able to make a successful raid on a farm- er's hogs when there were several old males in the herd. At one time, when the Guthries were haul- ing in hay, a wolf chased a pig from among the drove in the wood, pursuing it into the meadow

near where they were at work. The wolf in this race was closely followed by the drove of hogs, including several old males. So closely was his wolfship pressed, that he was compelled to mount a hay-cock to save himself, and, in this position, was surrounded by the infuriated hogs. Suddenly one of the larger hogs rushed upon the heap of hay, upsetting it, and dislodg- ing the wolf, which was seized as soon as it touched the ground, and was literally torn in pieces.

The pioneers were in the habit of erecting a pen for their sheep near the house. It was very high, and into it the sheep were driven every night for safety. Wolves, however, driven by hunger, would sometimes succeed in getting into this pen and killing the sheep. On such occasions, they always so gorged themselves with mutton that they could not get out of the pen, and were compelled to remain and settle with the proprietor of the yard in the morning. The result of this settlement may be imagined.

One of the early settlers, Thomas Dickerson, was a blacksmith, and, in addition to his labors on his land, worked at the trade. He located his shop on a trail leading from the head-waters of the Black Fork to those of the Huron River. He was probably the first blacksmith in the township, and much of his work was making knives and tomahawks for his Indian friends, repairing their guns, etc.

The Stoner family was somewhat noted among the pioneers. Two sisters of Mrs. Stoner had been taken prisoners by the Indians when quite young and grew up among them, one of them marrying a half-breed by the name of Williams, by whom she had two children, the oldest of which subsequently married an Indian who was well known among all the early settlers as Johnny Cake. Mrs. Williams was so badly treated that she finally made her escape and returned to her father.

The Foulks family, who settled near the site of Rome (one of whom became the proprietor

HOME OF E. M. CHEW.

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

of that town), were in some respects a remark- able pioneer family. George Foulks was the theme of many a wild tale of border life. He was captured by the Indians when eleven years of age, and remained with them until he grew to manhood. A record of his adventures would be a fortune to a novelist, but, like thou- sands of pioneers, he passed away without leaving any written record, and thus there is left but the shadowy, imperfect outlines of a daring, reckless, adventurous life ; the vision of a mighty hunter and backwoodsman flitting through forests of the past. Nothing can be told to a certainty, and thus passes out of exist- ence what might have been a valuable record of pioneer life.

Upon the organization of the township. an election was held about one and half miles north of Rome, at the house of Mr. Madden, at which twenty-one votes were polled.

The first marriage in the township is believed to have been that of James Long to Martha Guthrie.

For milling, the early settlers of this town- ship generally went to what was known as the " Cole Creek " mill, near Sandusky, or to Beam's, on the Rocky Fork.

The first mill was erected at Trucksville (Ganges) in 1816. by William Trucks and Dan- iel Ayers, on the Black Fork in the southwest part of the township. It was a poor concern, but a good deal better than none. The buhrs were manufactured out of " nigger heads." They also erected, at the same time and place, a saw- mill and a distillery, thus furnishing the three great staples of the time-flour, lumber and whisky. This mill was in operation, perhaps, fifteen years. It could only run a small por- tion of the year, as it stood on low ground and the frequent overflow of the Black Fork kept it blocked up a good deal of the time. It finally became a place of bad repute, a resort of " bum- mers," and as the settlers generally lost part of their grist and sometimes the entire grist, they ceased to patronize it.

The second mill was erected by Jacob Stoner, on Snip's Run, near the site of Rome. This, like the other, the settlers termed a "thunder- gust " mill. It was erected on such low, marshy ground that every freshet blocked it up and prevented operations. This section of the country is now thoroughly drained, and these overflows do not occur.

The third or fourth mill was Crouse's, also erected on Snip's Run, a half-mile above Stoner's. and was no better than the others. None of these mills existed a great length of time.

One of the earliest mills was erected by Charles Saviers on Camp Council Run. This run, being fed mostly by the marshes, amounted to but little after they were drained.

In a very early day, Samuel Rogers erected a horse-mill in the northeast part of the town- ship, to which the early settlers resorted, and where they were compelled to wait from one to three days for a grist, passing the time pleas- antly pitching quoits, wrestling, jumping. shooting at a mark, etc., living meanwhile at Mr. Rogers' expense. The only mill in the township at present was erected by Walter Shupe, in Rome. It is owned by Mr. Bricker, of Ganges, and is a steam-mill.

The first school in this township was opened in December, 1824, in the cabin erected by William Guthrie in 1816. It was a three-months school, and was taught by Robert Finney. Mr. Guthrie had occupied this cabin about two years, when he erected a better one in the same yard, and thus the old cabin was honored by becoming the first schoolhouse. Those who at- tended this school were Nathan S. Guthrie, now a resident of Shiloh ; Francis. Eliza and Lydia Guthrie ; George, Betsy, Margaret. William. Mary and Drusilla Hackett; Washington, David, Sallie and Mariah Long, and William and Thomas Dickinson. It was a subscription school, the teacher receiving $8 or $10 per month. Mr. Guthrie says that he and his brothers and sisters attended that school

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HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

during the entire winter in their bare feet. The schoolhouse being in their yard, they were able to get to it, often through the deep snow, with- out frosting their feet.

About the same time (perhaps the same win- ter, though no one can certainly say), a school was opened in the southern part of the town- ship, in the Trucks and Ayers settlement, on the site of the present village of Ganges.

The following winter, 1825-26, the Guthrie school was taught in a cabin which had been erected by John Guthrie for a dwelling ; it was also on the Guthrie farm. John becoming dis- satisfied with a life in the forest, returned to Harrison County, thus leaving the cabin vacant. Robert Finney also taught this school, and the same scholars attended, with the addi- tion of the Zeiglers and Mosses. This school- house contained a puncheon floor and paper windows ; and the school was continued here two winters. The only book used by the younger students was a paddle with the A B C's on one side, and the a b, abs, on the other. Robert Finney, the teacher, afterward returned to Harrison County. A majority of the chil- dren who attended these schools came what would now be considered long distances, through the woods, with only the "blazed" trees to mark the way. A few of these boys and girls are vet living, and wondering where the years have gone, and feeling that the con- trast between that day and this is almost be- yond human belief.

Among the earliest preachers in the town- ship, are the familiar names of Robert Lee, James Rowland, Harry O. Sheldon and others. These good men were everywhere in the county at that early day, sowing the good seed, organ- izing societies and establishing churches.

The first church society was probably that of the Presbyterians, organized by Robert Lee, about 1823. The early members of this society were James Hunter and wife, William Guth- rie and wife, James Carr and wife, William

Lattimer, the Cleland family, Daniel Prosser and wife, Joseph Guthrie, the McGaw family, Jacob Walker and Mrs. William Young. Be- sides Mr. Lee, the Rev. Mr. Mathews, James Rowland and Rev. Mr. Garrison often preached to this society. About 1827 or 1828, this- society erected a log church on Snip's Run, about half a mile north of Rome. This build- ing, which has long since disappeared, was about 20x30 feet in size, and was erected by the voluntary labor of the people, regardless of creed. The first graveyard naturally made its appearance in the vicinity of this church. The. building was occupied about fifteen years, when a frame was erected near it. which was used until 1860, when the society erected the pres- ent building in Rome. For many years this society was a strong, active one, but at present the membership is somewhat limited. A Sab- bath school has always been connected with the church.

The second church building was erected about 1835, by the German Reformed Society, in Rome. Rev. Mr. Leiter was instrumental in establishing this church, and preached for the society a number of years. To this organiza- tion belonged the Altorfers, the Butchers, the Pifers and Christian Ehret. This church has long since disappeared.

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Author: Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848- Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Mansfield, O. : A. A. Graham & co. Number of Pages: 968

Author: Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Mansfield, O. : A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 968