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 91

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 91

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).

There are several churches in the town : The Presbyterian, established in 1833, by Rev. Robert Lee; the Free Presbyterian, organized in 1851, by Rev. F. M. Finney ; the United Presbyterian, organized in 1858, by Rev. J. Y. Ashenhurst; the Associate Reformed Congregation, organized in 1831, by Rev. James Johnson, and the Disciple, organized in 1830, by Elders David Bryte and Joseph Harvout.

654

HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

CHAPTER LXVIII.

GREEN TOWNSHIP .*

"SURVEY-THE VILLAGE OF GREENTOWN-ORGANIZATION-THE MAN GREEN-ANDREW CRAIG-HENRY MCCART'S FAMILY -REV. JOHN HECKEWELDER - EARLY SETTLERS -WAR OF 1812 AND BLOCK HOUSES-INDIAN TRAILS -SCENERY - WATER COURSES -SITE OF THE OLD INDIAN VILLAGE - DISTILLERIES - MILLS - CHURCHES-PERRYSVILLE-EDUCATION.

THIS township, though now belonging to Ashland County, occupies a conspicuous and important position in the history of " Old Richland," on account of the famous Indian encampment, known as Greentown, established on Black Fork within its limits.

Gen. James Hedges surveyed this town- ship in 1807. No white man's cabin was then standing on its soil, unless it may be some stray French trader or renegade American had built a hut among the Indians at Green- town. Mr. Hedges ran his lines through the dense forest, marking out the little squares that spoke of the coming of the superior race.

In running the south and east boundary, he seems to have been much embarrassed over the variations of the compass. He re-surveyed, but could not determine the cause of the varia- tion. He stumbled upon the Indian village in the forest, upon the wild and pretty Black Fork, and stuck a corner-post in one of their cornfields, while the red men looked on and wondered, but did not disturb the intruders who were thus audaciously measuring off their land. This was an old village ; there were old men and women here, but of another race ; a race doomed to follow the deer and buffalo into exile and oblivion. The number of Indian families residing in the village is not given, but must have been fifty or sixty. The village was situated on a rolling slope of land extend- ing down to the Black Fork, and the grave- yard and village together must have occupied

four or five acres. Indian trails, much used, were found along the streams, tending north- west. The land was licavily timbered with hard wood, and is to-day good farming land.

The first organization of this township oc- curred August 7, 1812, it being then attached te Knox County. Madison Township then in- cluded all the territory afterward embraced in Richland County, and out of this Green was created, being first about thirty miles long from north to south, and a little less than twelve miles wide. In this condition it remained two years ; meanwhile, Richland County was formed, which included Green and Madison Townships, and new boundaries were immedi- ately established. Green was cut down Au- gust 9, 1814, to a territory twelve miles square, in the southeast corner of the county. The following year (1815), it was cut in two by a line running north and south through its cen- ter, the east half retaining the name of Green, being then six by twelve miles in extent. In this shape it remained until 1818, when it was divided by a line running east and west through the center, and thus reduced to its present di- mensions-six miles square-Hanover being created from the southern half.

The name-Greentown-originated from the fact of the settlement of a Tory-Thomas Green-on the spot, where the Indians assisted in building the village. This man, if he may be considered a settler, was the first white set- tler in this part of the country. He came here about 1783. He had been engaged with the

* Now in Ashland County, formerly in Richland.

655

HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

British and Indians at the massacre at Wyom- ing, and for this crime, was afterward com- pelled to flee for his life and bury himself in the great forests of Ohio. He can hardly be considered a settler in the proper sense of that word. He was a renegade, and did not come here with the intention of settling in a particu- lar spot, and did not probably remain for any length of time in one place. He was here years before any survey had been made; he could not and did not enter land ; he did not, probably, want land, or a permanent home ; he resided with the Indians, and probably hunted, fished and traded for a living. He might have planted corn and tilled the soil to a certain ex- tent, but so did the Indians. His name, how- ever, is perpetuated in the village, and, if de- serving of any notice whatever, it belongs in the history of this township. He cannot be classed with the Girty and other renegades, as they were nomadic in their lives, while Green appears to have stopped on the Black Fork, at least long enough to establish a permanent village, and had influence enough among his dusky neighbors to give it his name. Green may have been the first white man in the county, but it is not likely, as Girty, McKee and other renegades were through here thirty or forty years before the surveyors came.

Mr. Norton, in his history of Knox County, makes Andrew Craig the first settler in Green Township, and also in Ashland County. He gives this description of Craig : "He was, at a very early day, a sort of frontier character, fond of rough and tumble life, a stout, rugged man, bold and dare-devil in disposition, who took delight in hunting, wrestling and athletic sports ; a ' hail fellow, well met' with the In- dians then inhabiting the country. He was from the bleak, broken mountainous region of Virginia, and as hardy a pine knot as ever that country produced. He was in this country when Ohio was in its territorial condition, and, when this wilderness was declared to be in the

county of Fairfield, the sole denizen of this entire district tabernacled with a woman in a rough-log hut close by the little Indian field, about a half mile east of where Mount Vernon now exists, and at the point where Center Run empties into the Ko-ko-sing. There Andrew Craig lived when Mount Vernon was laid out, in 1805 ; there he was upon the organization of Knox County, its oldest inhabitant, and there he continued until 1809. Such a harum-scarum fellow could not rest easy when white men got thick around him, so he left and went to the Indian village -- Greentown-and from there emigrated further out on the frontier, preferring red men for neighbors."

If the above is a true picture, even Andrew Craig cannot be called the first settler, or a set- tler at all, as he appeared to be one of those restless border spirits that do not come under the head of "settler." He did not propose to be hampered in his movements by civilization. The first settlement of the township, however, occurred in 1809, as others besides Andrew Craig came in at that time and remained. Henry McCart was in that neighborhood ; and Henry Newman says that one peculiarity of MeCart was that he dressed his children, of whom he had half a dozen or more, girls and boys, all alike. The dress was buckskin throughout-buckskin pantaloons and long buckskin coat reaching nearly to the knee and confined at the waist with a belt. No one was able to tell his girls and boys apart, as they all lived a good deal out of doors, and there was little difference in their complexion.

The Moravian missionary, Heckewelder, passed through Greentown, with other white men, in 1808. He says : "In the year 1808, while I was riding with a number of gentlemen through Greentown (an Indian town in the State of Ohio), I heard an Indian in his house, who, through a erevice, saw us passing, say in his language to his family :- ‘ See ! What a num- ber of people are coming along ! What! and

656

HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

among all these not one Long Knife ? All Yen- gess !' Then probably observing me, he said to himself: · No ! one Quakel ! (Quaker)." It is evi- dent that Rev. John Heckewelder and probably other missionaries had been preaching to these Indians many years, for when Mr. James Copus came and settled near them in 1809, and preached to them occasionally, he found many among them who partially understood the Eng- lish language, and it was evident from their ac- tions and conversation that they were accustomed to the holding of religious meetings. James Cun- ningham and Samuel Lewis were also here in 1809, and settled in the neighborhood of this village. In 1810, the following settlers were found in that vicinity, in addition to those already mentioned : George Crawford, David Davis, Frederick Zimmer, Jr., Phillip Zimmer, John Lambright, Peter Kinney, Edward Haley, John Davis, a widower, Allen Oliver, Charles and Bazel Tannehill, John Coulter, Melzer Coulter, Archibald Gardner, Calvin Hill, and their families. These did not all settle in Green Township, but a few of them did, and all settled so near each other, along the Black Fork and Rocky Fork, as to become neighbors. They were mostly of German descent, from Western Penn- sylvania and Virginia. The war of 1812 stopped the emigration for a year or two, but in 1814-15 the following settlers had been added to those in Green : Trew Peter, William Brown, Jolin Shehan, Ahira Hill, Asa Brown, Lewis, John and Adam Crossen, Stephen Vanscoyoe, Noah Custard, David Hill, Lewis Pierce, William Slater, John Murphy, Henry Naugh, John Pool, William Irvin, Moses Jones and Ebenezer Rice. Mr. Rice came in 1811, and settled on Section 29. From 1815 until 1824, the following addi- tional names appear as settlers in the town- ship : James Byers, Section 23; Conrad Cas- tor, Section 22; Jonathan Coulter, Samuel Graham, Section 17 ; Andrew Humphrey ; William Hunter, Section 26; William Taylor, Section 21 ; William Wallace, Section 24 ; John

White, Isaac Wolf, Section 25; and many others, whose names are not now recalled. Abraham Baughman and John Davis were among the earliest settlers in this township- perhaps the earliest. They were here when Peter Kinney arrived, in 1810; how long they had been here, or where they came from, does not appear. Baughman, who was a man of family, lived near Greentown, while Davis, who was a widower and kept " bachelor's hall," set- tled on Section 31. He had been a Revolution- ary soldier, and some years subsequent to his settlement in the township, was found dead on the roadside, above Chillicothe. to which place he been to draw his pension. This township settled very rapidly after the war of 1812; Greentown being located on a sort of thorough- fare, over which a majority of emigrants, seek- ing homes in the West must pass. The conse- quence was that many who intended going further west and who halted in the settlement for a day or two, remained and became permanent.

When the war of 1812 began this was, of course, a frontier settlement, and having a band of Indians in their very midst, the settlers felt a continual sense of insecurity. They knew not what moment their hitherto friendly red brothers might take a notion to massacre the entire settlement. British agents were in con- tinual correspondence with them, and endeavor- ing to influence them to take up the hatchet, and put on the war paint. It was not strange, therefore, that when Martin Ruffner and the Zimmer family were murdered, the entire set- tlement were panic-stricken, and made all haste for the block-houses in the vicinity, and discussed seriously the matter of deserting the country entirely. There were men among them, however, who had cool heads and brave hearts, whose counsels prevailed. A few, however, left the country entirely, going back where they came from, to remain until after the war, and some never to return again to Ohio. About thirty persons from this settlement went to

657

HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

Clinton, Knox County, among whom were Ebenezer Rice. Joseph Jones, Calvin Hill, Abraham Baughman, J. L. Hill, and their families. Peter Kinney. James Cunningham, Andrew Craig, David Davis. William Slater, John Wilson, Peter Zimmerman, llarvy Hill, Henry McCart and Henry Nail, with their fam- ilies, fled to Lewis' block-house, on the Clear Fork. Most of these families made a temporary stay at the block-house. returning frequently during the fall months, to their cabins, to look after their stock, etc. The next day after the flight to Lewis' block-house, Harvy Hill and John Coulter, who aided the fugitives in driving along most of their cattle, returned. and by the aid of the Tannehills. Olivers, and some others, the roof of Thomas Coulter's cabin was taken off, a second story put on, and it became "Coulter's block-house." This cabin was about sixteen by eighteen feet, and had been erected in 1810. It stood at the base of a bold bluff, on the bank of the Black Fork, half a mile south- east of the village of Perrysville. As soon as this block-house was completed, it was occu- pied by Thomas Coulter, Allen Oliver, Melzer Tannehill. Jeremiah Conine, George Crawford, and the families of these gentlemen. Thomas Conlter and Harvy Hill then volunteered to go to Wooster, through the forest, at that time a dangerous undertaking as was supposed, to secure soldiers to defend the settlement. They succeeded in obtaining a guard of eleven soldiers under command of Lieut. Win- tringer, of the Tuscarawas militia of the army of Gen. Beall, then collecting at Wooster. The guard accompanied them home, and in the daytime scouted through the hills and valleys for Indian signs, and stood guard at the block- house at night. While a resident of the block- house, the wife of Jeremiah Conine died, and was buried in the cemetery at Perrysville. She was the second person interred in that ground ; Samuel Hill, who died the preceding June, being the first.

With the removal of the Greentown Indians by the Government. disappeared forever the red men as a tribe from this part of the coun- try. Two of their trails, well marked and much used, passed through the township ; one from the direction of Mifflin, down the east side of the Black Fork to Greentown, where it was joined by another from the direction of Lucas ; then it passed near the track of the Pittsburgh Railroad, a little north of the present site of Loudonville, continuing down the valley through Holmes County toward the Lake Fork of the Mohican. The other trail kept down the south side of the Black Fork from Greentown to the Walhonding ; then to the forks of the Muskingum. These trails were evidently their great highways to the East, over which the war parties of the Wyandots and Delawares fre- quently passed on their maranding expeditions into the infant settlements of Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania.

It is said that the scenery along the Black Fork and in the vicinity of this Indian village was of unrivaled beauty. The banks of the streams resembled a vast greenhouse, where choice flowers, flowering shrubs, and plants of every variety peenliar to this climate might be seen, growing in wild luxuriance, filling the air of all the country with sweet perfume. In May, when the trees were in full leaf. with an undergrowth of shrubbery, pea-vines. and sedge- grass, intertwined by wild grape-vines. and in the glades, black haw, red haw and plum-trees in abundance ; and all echoing with the merry songs of birds and chirp of squirrels leaping from branch to branch, saluting the pioneer or hunter, rendered the scene a veritable paradise.

As may be inferred, Green Township is rich in Indian relics, and archæological specimens. These have been gathered by the hundred, and are now safely deposited in the cabinets of en- riosity seekers, or in possession of the inhabi- tants. The plow continues to turn up a few every year. Ancient earthworks also exist

658

HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

which receive attention in another chapter. The soil was favorable for the erection of these works, being rolling and sandy in places, while streams and springs of water are abundant in every direction. The Black Fork enters the township from its western borders, flowing in a southeastern course until it reaches Loudon- ville in Hanover Township. Messrs. Coulter, Oliver, Rice and others, in an early day, con- structed flat-boats, freighted them with pork, flour and whisky, and ran them to New Orleans. These boats would average about 15 feet in width, 50 feet in length, and would carry 40 or 50 tons. Clear Creek runs about a mile through the southwest corner; and Honey Creek orig- inates in the Quaker Springs, near the south- east line of Vermillion Township, and pursues a southwardly course through Green, termina- ting in the Black Fork.

Where the village of Greentown stood, there is now, and has been for many years, a culti- vated farm, and there is nothing special to mark this historic spot. A monument should be erected here while there are yet those living who can point out the location. It is about two and a half miles up the Black Fork from the town of Perrysville. John Shambaugh has for many years owned the farm upon which the village was located, but has recently sold it.

There were the usual number of distilleries in the township in an early day, before trans- portation of any kind gave an outlet to pro- duce. Corn was about the only marketable thing the farmer could raise. This would bring the money at the distilleries. These gradually went out of existence, as canals, and finally railroads, made their appearance, and public opinion strengthened against them.

Several mills have been erected, from time to time, in the township. The settlers first went to Mount Vernon for their grinding, and later, to the mill at Newville. The "Darling" mill, on Clear Fork, was erected probably as early as 1818 or 1820. The "Stringer" mill

was erected in 1842, on the Black Fork, one mile below Perrysville-now owned by William Endslow. One of the early mills was erected by Isaac Meaner in the northeast corner of the township ; it is now operated by a Mr. Wolf. One of the early mills was also located on Honey Creek, three miles northeast of Perrys- ville ; it was erected by Jesse Vanzile-now owned by A. J. Royer. The mill now owned by William Ward, two and a half miles west of Perrysville, is located on a large spring. The first mill in this place was erected by Will- iam Clemmens. This was subsequently taken down and the present one erected by Nicholas Swearengen.

Church matters have not been neglected, there being five churches in the town and township. Rev. John Heckewelder was probably the first preacher within its limits, visiting, as has been mentioned, the Greentown Indians as a mis- sionary at a very early day. James Copus, who was killed by these Indians, was also one of the earliest preachers. Outside of the town are two churches-one formerly a Methodist, located in the northeast corner, organized and the house erected about 1837. The society be- coming feeble, the church was purchased by Christians of different denominations, and has since been used for general church purposes. The other is the Greentown Baptist Church- first a brick, erected in 1837, two and a half miles northeast of Perrysville : this was pulled down in 1879, and a frame erected at a cost of $1,700.

Perrysville contains three churches at pres- ent. The Presbyterian was one of the earliest in the township, the organization dating back to 1818. No building was. however. erected until 1833. In 1865. a new frame was erected costing about $2,500.

The Baptist Church seceded from the old Greentown Baptist Church, organized and erected a frame church building in 1865, at a cost of $2,300. The Methodists for many years

659

HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

had a class in Perrysville, but no building until 1873, when they erected the present frame.

Perrysville was laid out, according to the statement of Mr. Rice and other old settlers, in 1812, though the plat does not appear on the records until three years later. About the time it was laid out, the battle on Lake Erie was fought by Commodore Perry-hence the name of Perrysville. The proprietors were Thomas and Jonathan Coulter and George Crawford. Its first settlers were the Hills, Coul- ters and Tannehills, the first coming from Ver- mont and the two latter from Pennsylvania. There are two ancient mounds near the town, and during last year while excavating for gravel (they are constructed principally of gravel), two skeletons were found in an indiffer- ent state of preservation.

The town contains, perhaps, three or four hundred people, and is situated on the Black Fork, and the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chi- cago Railroad, on a sandy bottom among the hills. It contains three dry-goods stores, which, however, are not confined to dry goods alone ;

two grocery, one hardware, two drug and one boot and shoe store; two foundries, one hotel. many shops of different kinds, and the usual number of mechanics in the various trades.

Education has not been neglected. The first schoolhouse in the town was erected on Lot No. 36, and was hewed log. The next-a frame-was erected nearly on the site of the first. The third was erected in 1854, in Coul- ter's Addition-a frame about 24x30 feet. It is yet standing, but is used as a dwelling. The fourth house was also erected in Coulter's Ad- dition. It is a two-story frame, and is yet in use for school purposes. The town is now di- vided into two districts, the Black Fork being the dividing line.

In 1865, Prof. J. C. Sample started a select school in the Presbyterian Church. This school was a success, and in two or three years a stock company was formed and erected the present academy, at a cost of $4,000. Prof. Sample is yet Principal, and has a houseful of students, many of them from a distance. Per- rysville is a quiet, orderly, pleasant village.

CHAPTER LXIX.

HANOVER TOWNSHIP .*

NOTES OF THE SURVEY-ORGANIZATION AND PHYSICAL FEATURES-EARLY SETTLERS-LOUDONVILLE-THE BANK -MILLS -THE BUSINESS OF LOUDONVILLE-SECRET SOCIETIES -THE CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS-THIE PRESS-THE MAYORS.

H ANOVER TOWNSHIP was surveyed by James Hedges, who commenced March 15, and ended March 25. 1807. In his notes of the survey he says : "The east boundary had much burnt woods. On the fifth mile going south, came to an old Indian boundary line, being, perhaps, the north line of Gelloway Res- ervation, in Knox County."

The line runs southwest across the township, and passes out nearly in the middle of Section

31. In subdividing the township. between Sec- tions 1 and 2, he touches Armstrong's Creek, 150 links wide, running southwest. This creek is so named from Capt. Thomas Armstrong, an Indian chief, who resided in the village of Greentown, some eight miles higher up the stream. It is also described by other survey- ors as the Muddy or Black Fork of Mohican John's Creek, but more popularly known as the Black Fork, or principal head of the Walhon- ding or White Woman's River. The junction of

* Now in Ashland County, formerly in Richland.

660

IHISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

the Clear Fork and Black Fork is mentioned, the width being 140 links. In running the south boundary going west, he came to an old Indian path or trail leading north and south, per- haps to the Gelloway settlement of the Wal- honding. The land of Hanover is described as being rugged and poor, with stunted timber, much burnt on the northeast part of the town- ship.

Hanover was organized October 4, 1818, out of the southern halt of Greene. The surface is broken and hilly ; some of the lofty and pre- cipitous hills reaching an altitude attaining the real grandeur of mountains. A considerable portion of its surface is not, therefore, adapted to cultivation, though there are many farms in the valleys not surpassed in fertility by any in other townships. A great deal of the land is bet- ter adapted to grazing. Clear Fork enters the township near the northwest corner, flowing southeasterly about five miles, when it unites with the Black Fork. As this stream is con- fined among the hills and the fall is rapid, it furnishes excellent water-power, which is suffi- cient the year round to run any number of mills. The Black Fork enters the township at Loudonville, and pursues a southwesterly course until it unites with the Clear Fork.

The early settlers of the township were Sam- uel Garrett, 1825, Section 11; Nathaniel Has- kell, 1820 ; John Hildebrand. 1823: Mark Mapes, 1822; James Loudon Priest, 1810; George Snyder, 1818; Stephen Butler and family, Caleb Chappel and family, 1814.

The township being a little out of the line of travel, and not quite as inviting in appear- ance as some others, was not settled so early nor so rapidly.

Of these settlers, Mr. Garrett served in the Revolutionary war, in the Life Guard of Gen. Washington, and states that upon his discharge he was paid off in Continental money, which was so worthless that it would not purchase him a single meal. Mr. Haskell was one of the

first merchants and millers in the township, and was engaged in freighting to New Orleans by flatboats, shipping pork, flour and whisky. Flour then cost $2.50 to $3 per barrel, and brought in New Orleans $5 and $6. Mr. Priest immortalized his name by laying out the town of Loudonville. He first settled in Lake Township, building the first cabin in that town- ship, and becoming its first Justice of the Peace. During the Indian troubles, he erected a fort upon his premises, for the safety of his family and those of his neighbors.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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