History of Stark County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 94

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

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notice was served upon him that he had been drafted into the United States service, and that he must appear at a certain place on a certain day, properly " armed and equipped according to law," or furnish a substitute. Here was a " go," and what to do in such a trying scene was a rather puzzling question. They were comparatively alone in the wilderness : Mrs. Cable had three small children, the eldest less

hiring a substitute. for which she paid $60 -- a sum of money she had saved up while keeping tavern in Jefferson Co. The substitute had no gun, and she was thus forced to part with their trusty rifle, which caused more regret than parting with the $60, for she had become an adept in the use of it, and could bring down a turkey or deer at as long range as most of the men. But she kept her husband at home, and there was consolation in that. She is repre- sented as a woman of whom there are few, if any, representatives left. A local writer upon the early history of Pike, terms her the - last of the old guard, " a compliment deserved of her. It is said that she would, after she had put her children to bed at night, go out with her husband, assist him in rolling logs, piling and burning brush ; that she could split rails, build fence. cut cord-wood, etc., and that in the harvest field she made a regular hand. We are not an advocate of women performing (or attempting to perform) men's work, nor in favor of making field hands of the fair sex ; but we do glory in a woman who, when emergencies arise requiring it, can become. in deed and in truth, a helpmeet to her husband. Mr. Yant, of Pike Township, has the following of Mrs. Cable in a communication to the coun- ty papers a few years ago : " Mrs. Cable's maiden name was Crise. Her mother died when she was five days old. She was such a diminutive little mortal that her father said it was useless to expect to raise her. She was, however, taken by Mrs. Henline, and developed into the hardy woman we have described. She is in the enjoyment of good health, possesses a retentive memory, and is in her eighty-fifth year. I am indebted to her for a number of facts and incidents in these sketches. "

Mr. ( able died in 1848. Mr. Yant gives the following incident of him : "Jonathan Cable built a dozen or more cabins for the settlers. and generally camped out while at work. I'p-

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PIKE TOWNSHIP.

on one of these occasions, when Mi. Hipple and one his boys were helping at this work, the wolves surrounded them in great numbers after night, while laving by the fire. The boy became much alarmed, but Mr. Cable took a fire-brand in each hand, ran in among them, and dispersed the whole pack." One more incident of this pioneer couple, is related by the same authority: " Mr. Cable worked a sugar camp on the cast side of the Nimishillen, and Mrs. Cable would cross in a canoe, gather in the sugar water, and bring it over. I'pon one of these occasions. the stream being high and the current rapid, she used a pole to push the canoe through the water, and while making the utmost exer- tions to head the craft against the stream. the end of the pole caught in her dress, and threw her out. The water took her up to her neck. but she kept hold of the canoe and pushed it ashore." Mrs. Cable is described by those who know her, as "tall, of fine form, walks erect, a pleasant, intelligent countenance, hearing unim- paired and eyesight good." She is still living. and nearly ninety years of age, hale and hearty. and bids fair to live many years longer.

In 1812, the settlement was augmented by the arrival of Pitney Guest and Benjamin Mil- ler. Guest was Miller's son-in-law, and both families hailed from New Jersey. Miller was a Revolutionary soldier, and served mostly under Gen. Greene. He was wounded in an engagement with Cornwallis in North Carolina, but remained in the service until the war was over. They came to this township as above. and " squatted" on land in Section 19, sleeping in their wagons until they could get up a cabin. Miller died in 1828, and the old Revolutionary hero lies buried in the little graveyard at Sandy- ville. Guest was a shoemaker, and by working at his trade, and making and mending shoes for his neighbors. he was enabled to thus proenre many of the necessaries of life. He had a monopoly of the business, as we learn there was no other "cobbler" in the settlement for several years. He was drafted in the war of 1812. in the last call for troops, but peace was declared before he was ordered to the front. The first three years he spent in Pike Township, he lived on Section 19, then sold his improve- ments for $100, and entered the northeast quar- ter of Section 7. the place now owned by his son. Washington Guest. The elder Mr. Guest was both a Justice of the Peace and a regularly

ordained minister of the Baptist Church, and in the two official capacities he, perhaps, united inore people in the holy bonds of wedlock than any other man in the county. He could do up the job according to the views of either the re- ligious believer or the Ingersollian skeptie-the one he would unite in his capacity as a minis- ter. and the other in that of a JJustice of the Peace. He held the latter office for more than twenty years, and was a just and upright Judge. When parties came to him for " justice under the law." he invariably tried to compromise matters between them without a lawsuit, and in this manner prevented a great deal of bickering and hard feelings among his neighbors. He is described as a man of fine appearance, sound judgment and more than ordinary intelligence. He was killed in 1856, by being thrown from a wagon during the running away of the team attached to it. His widow died in 1871. at the age of ninety-two years. During the year of Mr. Guest's settlement. Henry Bordner and Phillip Seffert came into the neighborhood. They were men of some enterprise and standing, and were both elected officers upon the organi- zation of the township. A daughter of Bord- ner's married her cousin. John P. Bordner, who was a great sport and hunter, and also a su(- cessful farmer for that early period.

From the year 1812 to 1815 the following set- tlers came m, the most of whom entered land and engaged in opening up farms : Amos Jan- ney, John Russell. Michael Holm and his son John. George Fetters, Christian Hipple, John Bechtel. Daniel Failer, Joseph Keel. the Hen- lines. Keysers. Schroyers, Weavers. Peter lock- ersmith and the llowenstines. Of these we have not been able to learn much. beyond the fact of their carly settlement. Janney laid out the town of Sparta, which will be again alluded to. lle built a saw and grist-mill. the first in the township. The grist-mill was a rather primitive structure, but of great benefit and advantage to the settlers. Mr. Janney was an honest man-a surveyor-and is represented as a man who had an eye to business. but was ex- ceedingly careless in business details, and con- sequently less prosperous than otherwise he might have been. He finally removed to Indi- ana, where he died some years later. John Holm and his father, Michael Holm, came from Maryland, and purchased the northwest quarter of Section & from a man named Andrews. On

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HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY.

the place is a tine spring. which. in early times, was a great resort of Indians. Many arrow- heads and other Indian trinkets are found in its vicinity.

Prier Foster was a "wandering son of Ethiopia's fated race," and a well-known and well-remembered early settler in Pike Township, and the first of his race in Stark County. His face was blacker than a storm-cloud. and his mouth reminded one of a coal-pit, set around the opening with marble slabs. Ile was mar- ried in the " Oberley Corner." by Squire Coulter, in the year 1811, to a comely white girl, who is represented as " a girl of good sense and judg- ment. but of grossly perverted taste." Foster was a hard-working, industrious man, and possessed great physical strength. His trade was that of a miller, and he was often heard to say that he never saw the horse that could carry as much at one load as he could. The following incident is related of the Fosters : A stranger was passing Foster's house one day and stopped to inquire the way to a certain place. Mrs. Foster was alone, and in reply to the inquiry said, " My dear will soon be in, and he can tell you." Presently Foster made his appearance. The stranger in utter astonish- ment. looked at the husband and then at the wife. at a loss how to reconcile the incongruity. " Madam" said he, " did I understand you to call that man your dear ?" " Yes, sir," she re- plied. " Well," said the stranger, " I'll be - if he don't look to me more like a bear." Foster had a son named George, who was quite as black and quite as brawny as his father, who also married a white girl. Squire Guest was called upon to perform the marriage ceremony between them, but declined until he had con- sulted an attorney at Canton, after which he united them "for better or for worse." It is said that it takes all sorts of people to make a world, and we admit that it is a matter of some convenience that all people do not see alike.

Other pioneer settlers of the township were Michael Worley, Jacob Miller. John Richards. Jacob Flora, Michael Apley, John Carnes. Bart- ley Williams. John Newhouse, John Bernheim- er, Martin McKinney, Jacob Bowman, Daniel Pryan, the Princes, Hemmingers. John Stametz, the Painters, and others whose names are not remembered. After the close of the war of 1812, emigrants came in so rapidly that it is impossible to keep trace of them. or to note

the date of settlement of each family. It is enough to say in this place, that the flow of emigration continued to this township, this Switzerland of Stark County. until the last vacant quarter-seetion of land was gobbled up. The majority of its pioneers came from the old Keystone State, and were cither Pennsylvania Dutch or Quakers. Their descendants form a portion of the best class of citizens of the county.

A part of the history of Pike Township that should not be omitted. is the fact that it was long the home of a man who. as an editor and a writer of ability, has few equals and fewer superiors in the country. We allode to Hon. Joseph Medill. editor of the Chicago Tribune. one of the ahlest newspapers published in the Northwest. His father moved to Stark County in 1831, when he. the embryonic editor, was but seven years old. and thus the great journal- ist is not an "Ohio man." as is claimed by many of his admirers in this section. Six of his brothers and sisters, however, were born in Stark County, and one sister and his mother. a lady now in her seventy-seventh year. still live here. His father died about ten years ago and lies buried. in the cemetery of Canton. Joseph worked on a farm in Pike Township some nine or ten years, when. in 1844-45. he began reading law with Hiram Griswold, as he could spare time from his farm labors. Later he spent some months in the law office of R. H. Folger. of Massillon, finally finishing his studies with Judge and Seymour Belden. of New Phil- adelphia. In 1850, he laid down Blackstone. and took up the pen. and since that time his service in the party of his choice has been no child's work. From an awkward plowboy. he has gone on up the ladder of Fame, until he has become the editor-in-chief of one of the greatest newspapers in one of the greatest cities of the greatest country upon which the sun shines.

It is not an easy matter in this day of plenty and of modern improvements and inventions to realize the great disadvantages under which the early settlers labored. In Pike Township. several neighbors would join together and load a canoe or " dugout " with their surplus produce. and float down the Nimishillen, Sandy and Tuscarawas to a place called the " station " and exchange their eargo for whisky, tobacco. iron, nails, salt. pepper, coffee, etc. The return was

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PIKE TOWNSHIP.

a more serious affair, as rowing against the current was laborious work; and when corn was scarce they would take boat loads of iron from the "bloomery" at Sparta, down to l'richsville (Egypt as it was then called), and trade the iron for corn, which they would bring back to their settlement. Mr. Yant. in his sketches of Pike Township gives the following. pertaining to its carly history : " In those early days bears. wolves, deer and a variety of other game was abundant. from which source the pioneer settlers supplied themselves : the streams also abounded with fish. James Eaken shot three bears, which were foraging on chest- nut trees, of the fruit of which they were very fond. He secured all three before he left the ground. Eli Miles lived in Sandy Township. Ilis wife. Mrs. Miles, took her babe and started to make a visit to Edward Jackson's, in the south part of this township When she got a short distance south of Sparta, night overtook her. and the wolves were upen her track. She sought a place of safety. Climbing a large tree. upon which a large limb had grown cut. forming a seat. another just in the right posi- tion to rest her feet upon. and still another to support her back ; just as comfortable a posi- tion as it would have been possible to find un- der such circumstances, and secming almost to have been made for the special purpose to which it was now devoted. The wolves scon appeared. and one of the hungry f ack stayed all night under the tree. and did not leave until daylight sent him to his lair. Mrs. Miles had taken her apron and tied herself and child fast to the tice. After the wolf left. she came down from ker retreat. and found herself near the neighbor's she was going to visit." The fore- going but faintly portrays the life which the people lived in this section sixty to seventy years ago. They settled in the wilderness. were į cor and without means to provide the comforts of life even had they been accessible. Says Mr. Yant : " The carly settlers generally had barely means sufficient to pay for a home and necessary moving expenses, and destitute of icans sufficient to pay for supplies until crops could be raised : many were put tostraits for bieadstuffs. Abundant supplies of wild meat could be procured at the proper season. ly the use of the rifle : Lut flour and some ad- ditional necessario couldonly lc had by going to the Ohio River, and corn at the Moravian set-

tlements on the Muskingum. Mrs. George Young took a horse and went to Steubenville for supplies. During her absence the provisions were exhausted. Mr. Young went to James Eakins' for a pailful of meal, and gave the pail for the mcal. When the harvest came. his first erop of wheat was eut without bread. The wheat was beaten off and boiled in milk. as a substitute for the staff of life. Such shifts were then not uncommon." But it is unneces- sary to pursue further the life of the early set- tlers, and their mode of living. It was uni- versal in all sections of the country in the pioneer days.

Originally. Pike and Bethlehem formed one township, and so remained for about two years. Previous to their organization into a township. they formed a part of Canton Township. They were separated from Canton on the 6th of March. 1:15. and an election ordered to be I:eld at the house of Henry Bordner. on the Ist day of April. At this election. Pitney Guest was elected Justice of the Peace, and Abraham Shoplar Township Clerk. The next eletion, which was held in April, 1816. at the house of William Ryder, resulted in the elcetien of Abraham Yant and Amos JJanprey. Trustees : Basil Thompson. Treasurer: James Chapman and John Shutt. Supervisors : Haman Vanderston and William Eckler. Listers : Henry Mills and George Allman, Constables ; Jacob Anspach and Matthew Brothers, Fence Viewers : John Sherman and Henry Bordner. Overseers of the Poor. In December. 1516. Pike and Bethlehem were separated, and each lecame an independent township. Pike remain- ing from that time to the present day without further geographical changes.

The first grist-mill in Pike Township was built by Ames Janny in ISTO, or thereabouts. It was on the Nimishillen, a little below Sparta. and is described as a very primitive affair. The frame was four posts set in the ground. forked at the top, in which poles were laid to support the roof, which was of clap-boards. The sides were never weather-boarded. A water-wheel resting on two posts, similar to these in the frame of the building. a driving- wheel attached to the shaft. and a " turner- head," composed the gearing of the concern. A pair of buhrs three feet in diameter. made « ut of quartz bowlders found on Sugar Creek plains, did the work of grinding. The bolt

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HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY.

was a piece of cloth, which was operated by the customers themselves. Primitive as was this mill, however, it was a great improvement to the horse mills of the time. the "hominy- block " and the coffee-mill. Other mills fol- lowed this pioneer structure, and the settler was no longer annoyed in procuring breadstuff's. Janny also built the first saw-mill in the town- ship, which was quite as rude as his grist-mill, but of considerable service to the community. Pitney Guest was the first shoemaker, George Young the first merchant, and Luther Drury. probably, the first blacksmith in like. Other tradesmen came in, and the wants of the peo- ple were supplied at home, which proved of great advantage, and was appreciated accord- ingly.

The following incident in Pike's early history is related through the columns of the Democrat: " A boy, about fourteen years old, in the family of David Evans, an carly settler of the town- ship, was eating peaches one day, when he con- eluded to swallow them stones and all, and a stone lodged in his throat and woukl not go up or down stream. Dr. Simmons, of Canton, was in the neighborhood, and was called in, and. after vain attempts to move it, said he would go home and read up the case, and return the next morning. At the appointed time he came back, and said the stone must, according to medical authority on the subject, come up and not go down. So he went to a blacksmith's shop and had a pair of pinchers made, and with the rough instrument returned and tried to take it out by putting the pinchers down the boy's throat aud taking hold, but failed. lle then declared that the only way was to cut it out. To this the family objected until they could consult the family physician, Dr. Bon- field. Accordingly he was sent for, and, in the meantime, Dr. Simmons went to see another patient. Dr. Bonfield came, and calling for an umbrella, took from it a piece of whalebone, greased it, and easily pushed the stone down the boy's throat. Dr. Simmons returned, and was much chagrined at his own failure when he found how easily the stone had been removed."

The religious history of Pike dates back al- most to its first settlement. The first preacher in the township of whom there is any reliable account, was Rev. J. B. Finley, a Methodist circuit rider, and who traveled the - Zanesville Circuit," as it was called, in 1809-10. This

cirenit was said to have covered the following territory : " From Zanesville toward the Ohio among the different settlements to New Phila- delphia, One-leg Creek, then to Nimishillen. This appointment was at the cabin of Abram Cozier, thence to Canton, at Wolf Creek, and south to Carey's, on Sugar Creek, thence to William Butts, Whiteyes, Tommica and Zanes- ville, making a distance of 475 miles, and em- bracing thirty-two appointments." Our stall- fed pastors of the present day would think this a rather hard pastorate, at a salary of $80 a year, and we will not quarrel with them if they do. We are glad times have improved, and we do not claim to be of those who believe the pioneer days were better than these. The preachers of those days, as well as those who felled the forest, were equal to their labors, and the Methodist ministry afforded few " soft places." The following incident is related of Mr. Finley's ministry in those pioneer days, by Mr. Yant : "In those early times there were fashionable ladies, as well as now, but the gen. eral rule was not to push the folly to extremes that more abundant means allow in the present; and these plain men who preached the Gospel purely for the love of it, did not fail to rebuke the follies of the times. One of the fancies of Madame Fashion in those days, was to make thie sleeves of dresses, from the elbow to the shoulder of an enormous size, and a hoop of ratan or grapevine was inserted in the middle of this intlated bubble, reducing the sleeve at that point and leaving two puffs. A Miss sat directly in front of the preacher, and, by one of those pranks that misfortune sometimes plays, the ends of the hoop in one of her sleeves had become disconnected. This so distended the arrangement, as to swell the puff even with the top of her head. Mr. Finley could not endure the sight without a merited reproof. lle broke the connection of his dis- course, and remarked parenthically that 'in these days the ladies were wearing sleeves of such enormous size, that a man might put his head in one of them ;' at the same time making a pass with his head toward the offending sleeve, upon which Miss left one seat vacant, and hastily found her way to the door."

In most parts of the Western country, the Methodist itinerants were the pioneer ministers, and gathered the scattered settlers in their rude cabins, even as the shepherd gathers sheep

PIKE TOWNSHIP.

into the fold. Other Methodist eireuit-riders. as the preachers of this denomination were called. followed Mr. Finley, and Mr. Cozier's cabin was a regular preaching-place.

The "Bible Christians" were the next after the Methodist, and also had meetings at Cozier's. Most of the early settlers, however. were of the Lutheran and German Reformed de- nominations. A class was formed about the year 1830. at the house of Abraham Chestnutwood. and the Revs. Aurora Calendar and Hawkins were the ministers. Jacob Miller moved on to Section 16, in 1831, and his house then be- came a place of worship, and a society was formed. Jacob Miller, Samuel Miller, Samuel Bard and Jacob Smith, and their wives were among the first members. Thomas Worley, John Miller, Joseph Keel and others were added subsequently. The preachers of those days were Revs. Plimpton. Green. Drummond, Weirish and others. They are described as "mighty men in the Scriptures." A church known as " Asbury Chapel " was built in 184.1. and is a brick structure. A flourishing society and Sunday school has continued here ever since the erection of the church. The United Brethren have a commodious house of worship in the township called "Otterbein Chapel." They maintain a flourishing church and Sun- day school. Zion Church is a substantial struc- ture, and belongs to the German Baptists.

Mr. Yant closes an article on the church history of Pike in the following words, which speak well for the township. He says : " Per- haps no part of the county of equal population is more abundantly supplied with religious instruction and moral training than the rural population of Pike. And without having access to actual records. it may safely be said. that the population of the township furnishes fewer criminals and less litigation than any other township in the county. The amount of ardent spirits used by the population also presents a largely diminished ratio to the general average." This is a good showing for the township, and worthy of imitation. We have been informed. since our work commeneed of compiling its history. that no intoxicating liquors are soll within its limits-another item well worthy of imitation.

The educational facilities of Pike were some- what behind many of her sister townships, and few schools were taught previous to the in-

auguration of the Free School system. One of these early schools was taught by a German, who boasted the ponderons name of Louis Augustus Ferdinand Constantine. a combina- tion of powerful names, that in their day have been highly renowned in European history. He taught both in the German and English lan- guages, and after one term, was succeeded by Thomas MeKean, an Irishman, and a fair sample of the Irish Schoolmaster described by the poet in the following lines :

" Old Teddy O' Rourke kept a bit of a school,

At a place called Clanna an l made it a rufe

If learning wouldn't mark the mind, 'faith he'd soon mark the back,

As coming down on them with a devilish whack."

Mr. MeKran is said to have used the birch very freely. At this school many of the children of Pike received their start in educa- tion. From fifty to sixty-five scholars, we are told, was the usual attendance, and " the want of shoes and suitable clothing alone prevented the attendance of one or two additional scores." The following incident is related by Mr. Yant : "About forty-four years ago a spelling-match took place at the Guest Schoolhouse : the con- test between Bethlehem and Pike. The house was crowded by spectators, and a large number of the best spellers of both townships were present. eager for the contest. John Billings. one of the best teachers of Bethlehem, pro- nouneed for his township. and George Ritter. the teacher of the Guest School pronounced for Pike. The spellers divided off those from Bethlehem on one side of the house, and Pike on the other. The contest was spirited and exciting as the boys and girls from both sides dropped out of ranks at each round, and after spending an hour or more in the well-contested match, George Holm represented Pike, and David Vant was all that was left of Bethlehem. The contest thus narrowed down to a speller of each party the excitement was greatly intensi- fied ; for a considerable time there was no miss by either. Mr. Ritter was of German descent. and. not so correet in his pronunciation of the English, failed to be intelligible in a common word. and Yant stepped out leaving George Holm the victor." This is one of the first spell- ing schools of which we have an account. but which in later years have been carried to con- siderable excess in many neighborhoods. The subjoined statistics from the last report of the

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History of Stark County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 94

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