History of Stark County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 88

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? ed
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1060

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Henry Hoover, as early as 1820, erected a distillery in the township. He had the neces- sary apparatus for manufacturing considerable liquor. He owned a copper still, which held some twenty-five gallons, and succeeded in dis- tilling about a barrel of whisky per day. He conducted the pursuit for many years, realizing fair pecuniary advantage therefrom; but, at last, when the demand for strong drink at home had partially subsided, and larger distilleries in the county had captured his distant trade, find- ing that his time could be more profitably spent in other occupations, he closed his distillery, and retired from the now detested business. Samuel Cossler engaged in the same occupation about the time that Hoover began, erecting his

499

PLAIN TOWNSHIP.

buildings, and placing therein apparatus neces- sary for turning out whisky at about the same rate as the Hoover distillery. He continued for a number of years. Solomon Miller is dis- tilling at present, and has been for many years, although not continuously. He distills about a barrel of whisky every day the distillery is conducted. and those in the township, who seem to know whereof they speak, say it is a first- class article. In the fall, when cider is abund- ant, Mr. Miller distills a fine article of cider brandy. He finds a ready sale for his liq- uor, not only at home, but abroad. No other distilleries, so far as known, have over been condueted in the township.

In the summer of 1880. Uriah Gray erected a small building in New Berlin, and began the mannfacture of cigars. Although not yet on a very extensive seale, his business is gradu- ally assuming shape, and crelong will be a valuable feature among the industries of the township. He furnishes labor for one employe. and his cigars are said to be superior in fillings and wrappers. llis cigars are greedily con- sumed by the delighted Berlinites.

Many other interesting items might be men- tioned of this village. The first tavern-keeper was John Hower, who opened his building to the public before the village could be called such. He has been succeeded by Mrs. Shriner. Jacob Wolf. Jacob Mohler. Cyrus Manderback, George Wagner, John Cloud, Amos Johnson, Jacob Hisner, Martin Aist. Harry Triesch, Daniel Winger, Jacob Bowers, Gerhart Leed, Cyrus Brady, the present landlord. Jacob Munderbaugh. William Pepple, Samuel Sloat and Michael Bitzer.

The first resident physician was Dr. Allen M. Weidler. After him were Drs. Peter Crum, Benbarger, Shanefelt and Young. The latter was succeeded by Dr. George Holtz, who be- gan practicing in 1845. and has continued in the village ever since. It is scarcely necessary to add that he has an extended practice and the confidence of the citizens. If the writer is correctly informed, he is a graduate of the Cleveland Medical College. Other physicians have tried to supplant him, but have signally failed. One day a young doctor went to Mr. Pierson. and asked him if there was any chance for another doctor to work into a practice at the village. Mr. Pierson eyed the young man a few moments in silence, and then remarked :

". I'll say to you frankly, I don't believe there is any chance for you whatever, because Dr. Holtz has the unlimited confidence of the peo- ple, charges very low for his work, and never collects what he charges." That commenda- tion is enough to satisfy the most exacting. The Doctor has served over twenty consecutive years as Justice of the Peace, often against his expressed desire, although he never refused to serve when elected. It is said that his judg- ments are rarely reversed, and but few ap- peals are taken from his decisions.

The first tanner in the village was Peter Brilhardt. He was followed in the same occu- pation by JJacob Mohler, John Lind, and the present one. W. II. Hoover.

William Palmer and Nicholas Kolp are the present shoemakers.

Frank Shields is the village butcher. He adopts the now common method of conveying his meat to the residences of his patrons. Ile buys and ships considerable live stock.

Israel f'arpenter is the village cabinet-maker. 11. Bailey is conducting a livery stable.

This concludes the brief history of the vil- lage of New Berlin, with the exception of not- ing that a station on the Valley Railroad is lo- cated about a mile west, and that the village has a population of about 400.

Abram Stevens, who had enlisted with Aaron Burr in his expedition to the South- west, and had embarked down the Ohio in a flat-boat, became dissatisfied with the prospect. ahead, and. abandoning the enterprise at Steubenville, he started westward, and. in 1807, arrived in Stark County. During the summer or fall of the same year. a log schoolhouse had been built by the settlers in the southern part of the township, and located on the farm of James Gaff. Stevens was employed to teach school in this house either during the fall of winter of the year 1507. This is said to have been the first term of school taught in Stark County. But little is remembered of it. except that quite a number of young men attended, and were in the habit of carrying their guns to school with them in hopes of being able to bring down a deer or other animal, either going or returning. The hours of intermission were often spent in seeing who were the best marks- men. Children in the backwoods were ex. tremely backward in their studies. Voung men over twenty-one years did not know as

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HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY.

much about their books then as children of the present do at the age of ten. What little book- learning the pioneer children received was oh- tained in the face of extreme discouragement. Dwellings were the first schoolhouses, and fathers were the first teachers. Often one book served the whole family, or perhaps several families. The letters which the small children learned had been pricked through paper with a pin, and to decipher them the child was obliged to hold the paper between himselfand the window (if the schoolhouse had such an aperture). It is stated that some of the children in Plain Township went to school all winter during a number of the early years with no covering to their feet, their phalanges became covered with a thick, tough skin, that enabled the children to withstand, in a measure, the snow and cold. When the cold was too severe, the children would take a small piece of hard board, heat it extremely hot at the fire-place, and then, with this in their band, would start on the run to- ward the schoolhouse. When their feet could bear the cold no longer, the hot board was placed upon the ground, and upon this the children stood until their feet had, in a meas- ure, been warmed, after which they took up their " portable stove," and again started on the run toward the schoolhouse. This per- formance was repeated as often as necessary until the schoolhouse was reached. It is said that nineteen scholars were in attendance at Mr. Stevens' school. Some state that this building was not a schoolhouse but was a log dwelling that had been abandoned by the owner, and converted to the uses of education. Stevens is said to have been a large man, with red face and reddish whiskers, and nose of sufficient size to answer all requirements. He was in the habit of participating in the games on the playground, and, in wrestling, could throw down any young man who came to school to him. llis commands in the school- room were obeyed without question. lle was a kind teacher and competent instructor.

"Hle taught his scholars the rule of three.

Reading, and 'riting, and 'rithmetic too;

He took the little ones upon his knee,

For a kind old heart in his breast had he. And the wants of the littlest child he knew :

· Learn while you're young,' he often said.

' There's much to enjoy down here below: Life for the living, and rest for the dead!'

Said the jolly old pedagogue long ago."

Much of the early school history is forgotten. It is certain that in about the year 1815, there were four on more schools in session in the township, and before this time, several school districts had been created. The entire township was at first divided into two unequal districts. This was due to the fact that two distinct neigh- borhoods, separated by a distance too great to be traversed by the scholars, had separate schools. As the settlements widened, and the township became more densely populated, these distriets were divided and subdivided, until the present number was reached. It is doubt- ed whether any other township in the county, except, perhaps, Canton, can show as early and extensive a division into school districts. A log schoolhouse was built south of New Berlin before the year 1820. In about the year 1835, the first one was built in the village. It was a log building that was afterward weather-board- ed, and is now used as the residence of John Kolp. This builling was used for school pur- poses some eight or ten years, when a frame was erected to take its place. The frame is now used as a blacksmith-shop, by Henry Kloss. Iu 1867, the present schoolhouse-a brick- was built. The school is graded, two teachers being emyloyed during the winters, and one during the summers. The country schools are well conducted, and well attended. Log school- houses were the first on the programme; but these, after being used from five to fifteen years, were replaced with small frame structures that have been succeeded by several others since, each an improvement on the one preceding it. The following is a statement of the receipts and disbursements of the school funds of Plain Township for the year ending August 31, 1880: Board of Education. $1,925 23

State Fund. 1,249 50

Section 16. 232 83

Building 1,157 91

Incidental. 966 34

Balance from 1879. 1,449 07

Total receipts for the year. $6.980 88

Vouchers filed. 4,053 44

Balance on hand $2,927.44

Number of school districts 11

Total number of scholars. 823

Whole number of acres. 23.135.99

Total value of land. $1,144,580

Value of houses 143,060

Value of milis. 9,600

Value of other buildings. 86.150

Average value per acre. 49.4

cames Mourle

PLAIN TOWNSHIP.

501

The following table shows the number of school districts in the township, the sections upon which the houses stand, the size of the lots in acres and hundredths of an acre, and the total value of the school property, census 1880 :

NUMBER OF DISTRICT

Section.

Acres.

Value of Property.

No. 1 ...

1,00

$900

No 2.

.05

170

No. 4.

250

No. 5.

850

No. G

.50

550

No. 7.

.50

300

Na. 8

No. 10.

1.00

Lots 17 & 18

1100

No 12 ..

New Berlin.

The Lutherans and German Reformers were the first religious seets to organize in the town- ship. In the fall of 1806, Elder Stough held a meeting in the house of Jacob Loutzenheiser, and here the seed was first sown that has pro- dueed so abundantly and well. The first church was built in about the year 1809, by the com- bined societies, on the land of llenry Warstler, and was named in honor of this man " Henry's Church," a name that yet elings to it like a vine of ivy. Religious services were heldl here al- ternately by Rev. Benjamin Foust, of the Ger- man Reformed society, and Rev. Anthony Weyer, of the Lutheran. A constitution was framed and was signed by the following per- sons : Christopher Warstler, Michael Holtz, Jacob Warstler, Peter Troxel, Abraham Miller, Christopher Hennig, Nicholas Schneider, Chris- topher Beard, John Holtz, Peter Schneider, Mathias Bauer, John Ringer, John Holm, John Everhard, John Stickler, George Wertenberger, George Smith, Conrad Ruffner, Antonius Weyer, Christian Krum, Adam Werner, Adam Essig, Jacob Schneider, Jacob Essig, Michael Holtz, Jr., George Beard, Henry Warstler, Jacob Lam,

George Greasemor, Philip Hollenback and Adam Selimit. After a number of years, the two seets separating, the Reformers built a church in the northern part, and the Lutherans retained the old church. These societies are yet in existence, and each has had one or more churches. Rev. Stough was a missionary, who lived at New Lisbon, and traveled over large sections of country on his parochial visits. Many of the societies now numerically great and in excellent condition were organized by this good man. The " Zion Church " was first built about the year 1812. The building was a rough affair, and never completed. The Catholics of New Berlin built their " St. Paul's Church " about forty years ago, at a cost of some $1,200. It is yet in use, and has a mem- bership of some thirty-five families. A Union Church was built in the village not far from the same time. Some twelve years ago, the present brick was erected at a cost of about $1,000. In 1880, the German Reformers built a fine new brick church in the village. It is the largest and costliest church in the township. Its estimated cost is $3,000, over half of which was paid by John Sheets, who may be consid- ered its patron and founder. It will thus be seen that the village and township are well supplied with religious institutions. From the following table may be learned the names of the churches, their location, the number of acres in the church lots or cemeteries and the value of the church property :

NAME OF CHURCH.

Section.

Acres.

Value of Church Property.

St. Paul's Catholic Church.

2.00

$$50

Union Church.

.15.

250

Heury's { burch.

14& 23

3.00,

9, 0

Mt. Pleasant Church ...

Middle Branch Church.

540

St Peter's Church

11.00

1,200

.50

No 9

No. 3.

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HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY.

CHAPTER XXIII .*

PARIS TOWNSHIP -- DESCRIPTIVE AND TOPOGRAPHICAL-SETTLEMENT BY THE WHITES-FACTS AND INCIDENTS-EARLY IMPROVEMENTS-ORGANIZATION OF TOWN-

SHIP - EDUCATIONAL-VILLAGES.

"Here frowned the forest with terrific shade: No cultured field exposed the opening glade." -Migs.

PARIS TOWNSHIP was originally a part - of Osnaburg, and so remained until 1818, when it was set off by order of the County Com- missioners, and became a separate and inde- pendent township. Although of more recent organization than Osnaburg. yet its history dates back to a period quite as remote as the latter, and embraces much that is equally as interesting. The first decade of its occupation by the whites, its history and that of Osnaburg were very similar. in fart the same. as both were under the same civil organization. The surface features are also much the same, Paris. perhaps, comprising a little more level land than Osnaburg. The larger portion of it. however. is rolling, and in places even hilly. It is a fine agricultural region, notwithstanding the rough surface, the hills, where cultivated. producing excellent erops. Corn and wheat are exten- sively cultivated. and considerable attention paid to grazing and stock raising. The land is well drained by Black Stream-so-called from the dark color of its waters-IIugle's Run, San- dy Creek and their branches, with a few other little streams that are nameless on the maps. The timber consists of oak, hickory, maple, beech, elm. etc., with a little walnut and poplar. The township is bounded north by Washington Township, east by Columbiana County. south by Carroll County, west by Osnaburg Town- ship, and by the census of 1880 had 2,720 pop- ulation. The Conotton Valley narrow-gauge and the Tuscarawas Branch of the Cleveland, Pittsburgh & Wheeling Railroads pass through its territory, also the projected line of the Steu- benville, Canton & Cleveland Railroad. Plenty of coal may be found, and that near the sur- face, costing but little trouble or labor to mine it.

So far as our researches have gone. the first settlement made in what is now Paris Township by a white man was by Rudolph Bair, in the fall of 1806. He is prominently mentioned in the history of Osnaburg Township, as his resi- dence was in that division of the county, until the formation of Paris Township. He was a man of considerable native intelligence. and very prominent in the early history of the country. Ile was a native of York County, Penn., and when grown to manhood came to Ohio, and located in Columbiana County, which was then a part of Jefferson, and comprised a large district of country. Ohio was still a Ter- ritory, and had but few settlers within its limits. A biographer of Mr. Bair thus speaks of him : " Rudolph Bair. Sr .. generally called . Rudy' Bair, was a man of more than ordinary ability. Though his education was limited, his natural endowments were above the average. He had a liberal share of good common sense. a qualifi- cation not acquired at college. Such confidence had the community in his judgment. and dis- position to do right between man and man, that he was a very general referee to settle questions of difference that will occur between individuals. and from his decision no appeal was taken. Ile was a member of the German Reformed Church, and his daily life was consistent with his relig- ions profession. Though known as a farmer, his business was more particularly that of a land speculator. To accommodate emigrants of limited means, he often sold land on long time payments, and though these were not always met when dne, he was never known to oppress delinquents."

Mr. Bair was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1802. that framed the first State Constitution. Says a writer. commenting npon the subject : "That Convention completed the work for which they had assembled in tirenty- nine days, an example of industry and faithful- ness contrasted with the disposition of many of

*Contributed by W. II. Perrin.

PARIS TOWNSHIP.

our officials of the present day." It has been a subject of frequent remark in these latter days that the race of men who can dispatch public business as expeditiously as did the members of the first State Constitutional Convention of Ohio are rapidly becoming extinct. The more is the pity! Mr. Bair was an early Justice of the Peace in Stark County, when his jurisdic- tion extended over half the State of Ohio, and his decisions are said to have been models of justice and equity. He was also a member of the State Legislature when the State Capitol was at t'hillicothe. There are traditions of great speeches made by him before this august body. rivaling. in eloquence and wisdom, Cicc- ro's appeals in the Roman Senate ; but those who knew him best are disposed to be some- what skeptical on the subject, and to consider his speeches in the legislative halls of the State about as apocryphal as the story of George Washington and his little hatchet.

A communication published in the Canton Democrat has the following of Rudolph Bair. which is of interest, as being a part of the early history of the township : " In the sum- mer of 1806. Rudolph Bair and his brother Christopher made a trip on horseback through the eastern portion of Stark County (what is now Stark), with the view of selecting land to enter. They confined their explorations along each side of what is now known as State Road, at that time a mere bridle path. They selected a number of quarter-sections in Paris and Osna- burg Townships, which they entered in the land office at Steubenville. Among the num ber was the south half of Section 5. now owned by the Mayer heirs. On this place Rudolph Bair settled in the fall of the same year. He built a cabiu into which he moved. with all his household goods, before the floor was laid or a door hung. As a substitute for the latter. a quilt was suspended at the opening from wooden pins. In this rude shanty the wife was left alone. with her young babe. several days and nights, while her husband returned to Columbiana County for supplies. There were Indians encamped on the crock a short distance below. just where the State Road crosses the ereck : but there were no white per- sons nearer than Osnaburg, five miles distant. At night the wolves came howling around the cabin, and, in order to frighten them off. she would throw out chunks of lire, which had the

effect to keep the wolves at a respectful dis- tance. Thus she spent the time until her hus band's return." Mr. Bair died in 1820, and lies buried in the graveyard he laid out, and which le donated to the town of Paris. There was a walnut slab placed at the spot to mark his grave, but it has long since moldered into dust, and there is nothing now by which the place may be identified. No marble colun u. with its mock dignity, points to the spot where the old pioneer calmly sleeps. Requiescat in pier.

The next family to settle in Paris Township was that of George Thuman, in 1808, He came from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and settled upon the northwest quarter of Section 19. where he opened a farm and lived for many years. Mr. Dewcose located on Section 16 th . same year, and proceeded to clear up a farm. Samuel Deweese, a son of his, used to tell of going to Slusser's to mill. on the Nimishillen. and carrying a bushel of corn on the back of : bull. which served him in the place of a horse Such a performance would present a rather novel appearance at the present day. and afford unbounded amusement to the small boys of the community. He used, also, to go to Yellow Creek for a bushel of salt, for which he paid the moderate sum of eight dollars. It wasd' the day of war prices. either. but the times which " stirred men's souls." or their industry and energy. to enable them to make a livin _. Jasper Daniels, John Byers. Jacob Thon and John Augustine came into the township in 1-09, and made settlements. Augustine is represented as a prominent citizen, who was well known throughout the county, and one who possessed energy and enterprise, which was zealously used for the improvement and de velopment of the community in which he lived. lle served as Sheriff of the county for two terms- - from 1820 to 1-21 and State Senator eight years in succession from 1 21 to 1-32 Conrad Henning came to Paris Township in 1811. He was from Pennsylvania, and upon his removal to this place. he bought of Mr. Bair 100 acres of land in the southwest quarter of Section 4, for which he paid $200. He and his good wife proved very important personages in the little community he as the first black smith, and she as a midwife. In this branch of medical practice she was eminently successful. it is said, as during a period of thirty years or more, in which she attended more than five

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HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY.

hundred cases, she never lost a single patient nor ealled in medical assistance.

In addition to the pioneers of Paris Township already named. the following parties rank among the early settlers: John and Zadoek Welker; Peter Musser, who was a great fighter and neighborhood bully; John and William MeInderfer. Adam Shull. John Thomas, George Crowl. two men of the name of Fulton and Scovey, Michael Stonehill, Daniel Shively, Sam- uel Neidigh, John Cameron, Vance, and Pipher, and Jacob Hayman. The following incident is related of Ilayman : He was returning home one evening from a house-raising, when he met with a bear that had been wounded by a rifle shot. His courage, stimulated by the whisky he had drank at the raising, and armed with an ax, he gave Bruin battle. under the determina- tion of taking his scalp home, as a trophy to his frau. Advancing upon the bear, with his ax uplifted, intending to eleave his skull, his arm was rather unsteady, and the blow proved ineffectual. Bruin concluded to take a hand in the melee, and grappled with Hayman, who, before he could extricate himself from the elutches of the bear, had nearly all his clothes torn off, and was severely wounded. When he did succeed in getting away, he discovered that his desire to carry him home as a trophy had vanished. and that he felt like giving him a wide berth. Of the other settlers mentioned, little may be said, beyond the fact that they moved into the township, entered land, and opened up farms. Most, if not all, the settlers mentioned came in previous to the war of 1812. After the close of the war, and the establish- ment of peace, an influx of immigration set in- to this section of the State, and people poured into Paris Township so rapidly that it is impos- sible to keep trace of them, or to notice, indi- vidually, the settlement of each family.

The day of the pioneer is gone-the period in which he lived has passed away. A local writer, moralizing on his day and generation, thus speaks of him: "We may now regard lim as a soldier in the cause of human advance- ment, whose battles have been fought and won, and he may well look baek in surprise at the wonderful social and material results that have followed in his wake. The shifting sands of time have covered his footsteps, but the solid and substantial foundation laid by the pioneer for the social structure of the West will endure."

Modern inventions have followed the old-time implements and tools used by the pioneer fifty or seventy-five years ago-ox wagons, wooden plows, the " reap-hook," the scythe and cradle, wooden-tooth harrows, and all such antique utensils, have, in the slang of the period, "played out," and in their stead the farmer has plows that will almost turn the soil without any motive power; reapers that cut and bind the grain as they go, and in place of the patient ox i and lumbering wagon, they have the locomotive engine and the rushing railroad train. As we contemplate these gigantie strides in the march of improvement and progress, what may we not expeet in the next fifty years to come? Is it not possible that we shall then fly through the air in our pleasure cars. as we now fly over the country at the heels of the iron horse ?

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History of Stark County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 88

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? ed Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey Number of Pages: 1060

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? ed
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1060