USA > Ohio > Wayne County > History of Wayne county, Ohio, from the days of the pioneers and the first settlers to the present time > Part 22
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The guests being entertained and supplied, the cloth was re- moved, and S. Hemphill, Esq., read a series of toasts, to which responses were made.
4th TOAST-Hon. John Larwill, resident director of the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad. The celebration to-day, and the repeated election to his present post, as director, are the best tributes that can be offered to his merits as an officer and a man.
Mr. Larwill returned his thanks for the flattering expression of approbation by his fellow-townsmen and the gentlemen present. The opening of the road was to him a most gratifying event. He had known Wooster from the time the first stick of timber was cut to the present moment. No other improvement had ever so much enlisted his feelings and anxieties. This had been to him a proud day and he was most happy to enjoy it, and to have the privilege of returning his thanks for the honor done him.
Various toasts were responded to, and speeches made by E. Pardee, Esq., and others.
At night the fire companies made a splendid parade, the en- gines drawn by matched horses, caparisoned with flowers, plumes and floating banners. During the evening there was a gorgeous display of fire-works. George W. Kauffman sent up a balloon, and the firemen of Pittsburg were the invited guests of the Woos-
272
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
ter companies at an elegant repast, served in their honor at the United States Hall.
Three other roads have penetrated Wayne county, but to the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad we owe the rapid growth, development and material prosperity of the county.
We have thus drawn and gathered currente calamo a synop- tical statement of the origin, progress and completion of this road, and the part Wayne county enacted. It was, and is, the colossal and gigantic enterprise of her citizens. Boldly con- ceived, vigorously executed and gloriously completed, it will stand an honorable monument to its projectors, a measureless conve- nience and blessing to the citizens, forming another solid link in the duplex chain that is to bind the people and the States in
"The immortal league of love."
OTHER RAILROADS.
Since the construction of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chi- cago Railroad, the Columbus, Mount Vernon and Cleveland Rail- road, the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, and the Tusca- rawas Valley Railroad, have been built, and run through portions of the county.
REVOLUTIONARY PENSIONERS IN WAYNE COUNTY IN 1840.
Perry Township-Barnett Hagerman, aged 80.
Plain Township-Angustus Case, aged 87. Jackson Township-Ezra Tryon, aged 80. Canaan Township-Rufus Freeman, aged 78. Wayne Township-John Davidson, aged 84.
Chippewa Township-Christina Franks, aged 73 ; Isaac Underwood, aged 74. Milton Township-Benjamin Foster, aged 86; Benjamin Cotton, aged 83. Greene Township-Conrad Metsker, aged 82.
East Union Township-Jesse Richardson, aged 84; Simon Goodspeed, aged 76. Wooster-Robert Cain, aged 77.
NAMES OF HEADS OF FAMILIES.
273
Age.
Age.
Robert Hamilton 80
Nancy Mitchell 78
Burgan Covert 80
Jno. Burlingame 87
Richard Davis, Jr 93
Eleanor Wright 91
Ezekiel Irvin. 80
Wm. Woodward. 86
Leonard Peckinpaugh. 82
Ephraim Ellis 76
Abraham Storm
85
Ignatius Waterman 82
Thomas Arnett.
82
Nathan Rice
79
Peter Kesling. 90
Aaron Inman 77
John E. Kinney 78
John Payne. 79
Wm. Marts 76
Elias H. Wolcott 84
B. Clark
84
Daniel Dunbar
97
Sherebiah Fletcher
78
Thomas Perry 84
Barnabas Otis
83
Benajah Hays.
79
Wm. Ellis
91
POPULATION BY DECADES.
Population of Wayne County in
18Io was 332
66
1820 was 11,993
1830 was 23,327
1840 was 36,015
1850 was 32,681
66
66
1870 was 35, 116
NAMES OF HEADS OF FAMILIES
In Wayne County as returned by the Census taken in 1810 :
Alexander Finly,
Isariah Smith,
Amos Norris,
David Smith,
William Metcalf,
Jesse Cornelius,
Richard Healey,
Samuel Martin,
Jonathan Grant,
Josiah Crawford, James Beam,
Christian Smith,
William Laylin,
John L. Dawson,
John Smith,
Joseph Hughes,
David Kimpton, İ
Ebenezer Warner,
Benjamin Bunn,
James S. Priest,
Benjamin Miller, *
Robert Meeks, John Newell,
Philip Smith,
Baptiste Jerome, Hugh Moore,
John Smith, Andrew Alexander, Westel Ridgley,
John Driskel,
Jacob Foulks,
Stephen Morgan,
Samuel Henderson,
Conrad Bowers,
Andrew Luckey,
Valentine Smi h, Sr.,
Valentine Smith, Jr.,
Vatchel Metcalf,
Philip Griffith,
Daniel Doty,
Michael Switzer,
Jesse Richards,
William Kelley.
Thomas Eagle,
William Nixon,
Jacob Amman,
1860 was 32,438
*Joseph H. Larwill enumerated in Benjamin Miller's family. t William Larwill enumerated in David Kimpton's family.
18
274
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
VALUATION OF REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY.
The following statement gives the aggregate valuation of all the real and personal property placed upon the duplicate for taxa- tion in each township, village and city, and separate school dis- tricts in the county, and the rates levied upon such property, stated in mills and decimals, upon each dollar, for 1875 and 1876. The number of mills, therefore, will indicate the amount of tax in dollars upon each thousand dollars of valuation :
1875.
1876.
TOWNSHIPS, CORPORATIONS, ETC.
Valuation.
Rate. Mills.
Valuation.
Rate. Mills.
Baughman
$1,295,353
8.5
$1,305,584
8.85
Orrville Corporation.
178,650
14.2
181,450
17.85
School District
32,825
10.25
32,390
13.25
Marshallville Corporation ..
123,033
II.7
120,206
12.45
School District
97,850
10.2
95,780
10.35
Chippewa
1,185,902
8.7
1, 149,057
7.7
Doylestown Corporation
241,842
15.6
287, 130
15.65
School District.
117,596
15.9
83,865
16.0
Marshallville Corporation ..
22,660
II.7
25,215
12.45
School District
9,850
10.0
9,065
9.9
Milton
1,406,814
IO.2
1,378,789
10.55
Greene.
1,802,493
9.2
1,777,362
8.95
Orrville Corporation.
436,616
14.2
452,863
17.85
East Union.
1,325,149
12.35
1,292,651
II.2
Salt Creek.
133,562
16.6
139,085
17.0
School District
62,040
14.75
59,37I
15.25
Franklin
1,080,938
8.7
1,073,087
7.9
Fredericksburg School District
3,543
14.55
3,645
14.15
Wooster.
1,102,403
II.5
1,104,437
7.9
Wayne
1,347,333
8.45
1,356,598
7.7
Canaan
1,200,497
9.5
1,168,452
8.9
Burbank Corporation.
64,658
8.6
75,1IO
9.35
Congress ..
1,236,040
9.25
1,193,373
I0.0
West Salem Corporation
335,398
19.6
296,908
18.25
66
School District.
61,679
17.1
61,066
14.5
Congress Corporation.
63,065
15.I
55.242
16.25
Burbank Corporation.
14,965
8.6
14,345
9.35
Chester
1,273,417
9.4
1, 263, 685
9.15
Plain.
1,331,482
8.7
1,333,510
9.65
Clinton
919,879
11.15
967,987
12.45
Shreve Corporation.
240, 265
18.1
267,615
15.55
Wooster.
2,606,207
22.05
2,556, 247
22.25
School District.
100, 282
15.35
97,344
15.25
School District
30,746
14.I
30,858
14.5
School District.
1,695
7.35
1,795
8.6
597,324
10.25
616,854
13.25
Fredericksburg Corporation
275
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.
SCHOOL STATISTICS OF THE COUNTY.
For the year ending August 31, 1876, by the report of the State Commissioner of Common Schools, Wayne county received the following amount of money for school purposes :
Of State tax, $21,545.60; of irreducible school funds, $4,919.86; of local tax for school and school house purposes, $84,084.54; on sale of bonds, $350; from fines, licenses, tuition of non-resident pupils, and other sources, $2,551.72, or a total of $177,427.40, which includes a balance on hand, September 1, 1875, of $63,- 975.68.
Amount paid teachers in High School and Primaries, $52,- 797.78; amount for other expenditures, including the foregoing sum, making a total of $121, 101.63.
There were in the county, between the ages of six and twenty- one, 13,473 white children and 9 colored ; of this number there were 3,253 between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one; there were of this number 6, 828 boys and 6,645 girls, and 5 male and 4 female colored.
There were in the county 138 sub-divisions, II separate dis- tricts and II sub-districts included in separate districts. The total value of school property in the several townships and separate districts, $343, 562.
There were employed during the year in the schools within the county a total of 320 teachers, and 10,064 pupils were enrolled ; of this number there were 1,029 between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one. The average attendance was 6,333.
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.
We trust we will not be considered as dealing in extravagant assertion, when we say that the cause of Education in Wayne county is perhaps as far advanced as in any other county in the State, and that in its progress and development it can challenge comparison with the foremost in Ohio.
The first settlers did not neglect or overlook its vital claims,
276
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
and the subscription school was early encouraged and put to practi- cal working, and answered a noble and sublime purpose in those dim by-gone days. The short-term schools of a later period en- countered prompt and commendable patronage and support, and were a part of the progressive and civilizing agencies of the times.
It was, however, reserved for the era inaugurated by the adop- tion of the New Constitution of the State of Ohio, to communicate the powerful stimulant and add the tremendous impulse which at this time so signally discriminates and marks the practical oper- ations of the Free School System throughout the great State of Ohio.
The enactment of the first general law upon this subject, April 14, 1853, imparted a giant impulse and momentum to the cause and progress of education in Wayne county.
This law was prepared by a Senate Committee, consisting of the following members : Hon. Harvey Rice, of Cuyahoga county ; Hon. George Rex, of Wayne county ; and Hon. Alonzo Cushing, of Gallia county. Its provisions were grand, glorious and benefi- cent, and for the first time in the history of education in the State of Ohio, enacted an entirely new and enlarged Free School Sys- tem.
On the taking effect of the law, the people of Wayne county seemed to grasp its advantages without delay. Among the first townships to move under the law was Plain, and the first school- house built under the new law was what is known as " People's College," in Sub-district No. 7. And, as is customary with new enterprises, this met with severe and decided opposition ; but, under the direction and management of Hon. Benj. Eason, Jacob Welty and Robert C. Beard, the local Directors, the sub-district com- pleted its building, which served as a model for years for other sub-districts of the county.
Various amendments to the law have, from time to time, been enacted; but in all subsequent legislation upon the subject, the salient features of the original law have been retained ; and to-day the same system of free education to all the youth of the State
277
THE PRIMITIVE SCHOOL HOUSE AND SCHOOLS.
remains as a monument to the wisdom, intelligence, justice and genius of the framers of the original law.
THE PRIMITIVE SCHOOL HOUSE AND PRIMITVE SCHOOLS.
The primitive school house, as described to us, was eighteen feet square, built of logs, round or hewn, as the caprice of the builders suggested. It had a floor of split-logs called puncheons; it was roofed with clap-boards, with ridge-poles to hold them to their places and keep the wind from blowing them away. At the one end was a fire-place, in fact the whole end of the cabin some- times was the fire-place, and herein were rolled and tumbled immense back-logs. At the other end was a door with a string and latch, and a window was formed by sawing out a section of a log, insert- ing therein a light frame and stretching over the same some white paper which was oiled.
In the center of the room were slabs which were used for benches, without backs, and these were set on feet, or sticks set perpendicularly at each end. Boards arranged at a slope were fixed for the "on scholars," on which to put their copy books and slates.
The schools were gotten up by subscription, that is, a parent subscribed so much for each member of his family ; if he sent one, so much; if more, that much more. Tliese subscriptions were usually for a quarter, and the school commonly began in Novem- ber. Though it was a short term it was sometimes long for the teacher. The teacher was most ;anybody they could pick up; sometimes an intelligent neighbor, sometimes the peripatetic gen- tleman "from York State." In those days the teacher was held in great esteem-aye, reverence. He was a master, and was sup- posed to know everything. He could solve puzzles, do sums, make capital letters, sometimes he drank nothing but milk, and his last and most unfortunate gift was, that he could-sing. He always kept "order " in the school-room, his weapons to make the schol- ars " behave," consisting of a rule and a quiver of "gads."
278
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
When he trounced somebody's son he employed his whole in- tellect. If he thumped him he did it boldly; if he struck his knuckles with his club, he did it with refined courage ; if he pulled his ears, why this was-government, and the scholar's father thought his child was being instructed. He pretty nearly always boarded with the scholars, and of nights he would call around him the little, trembling urchins, with black marks on their tender backs which resulted from his cruel hammering during the day, and pat them on their heads and cheeks and tell their parents how apt and smart they were ; that this was a Cincinnatus, and that a Cicero. The father would " take it in," and reflectively remark to his wife of the fame that was to come upon them. Sometimes the scholars would "bar" him out on Christmas or New Year's, and then His Satanic Highness was to pay with a depleted exchequer. He would probably break in the door, or crawl through a window, or jump down the chimney; or, if there were any big scholars in attendance, he would "cave in " and promise to "set things up" the next day. The "treat " he would furnish would be composed of candies, cakes, gimcracks, and sometimes that adjunct of ster- ling pioneer civilization, a jug of whisky. On the last day of school the heads of families would come in, and the master. would cough up some endearing terms of parting to his children.
The subjects taught were the three celebrated R's-"Readin', 'Ritin' and 'Rithmetic"-to the Rule of Three. If the teacher said he could go this far he was hired. Parsing then was unborn, and grammar fit only for barbarians. If a pupil could "bound" the United States he was a classic, and fit to preach or practice law. Spelling was a big thing, for the masters were always spellers themselves, and in addition "worked out the hard sums" of the neighborhood. The children sometimes had a great distance to travel to where the school was taught, and in such cases their parents made furrows with their plows through the woods, or " blazed trees " as guides for them. Here they would gather, boys and girls, the omnipresent "big brother " likewise putting in his appearance. The boys in those days, too, kept an eye to fun,
279
THE PRIMITIVE SCHOOL HOUSE AND SCHOOLS.
and they took occasionally their dogs, Jew's-harps, jackknives, and frequently a pistol, along with them.
They all voted for long recesses and short recitations. But under all these circumstances they managed to make some ac- quirements, and proved to be highly useful members of the new country, and to them are we largely indebted for the legacy of the fine farms and enlightened prosperity we possess.
But in connection with these primitive schools, and the oppor- tunities they offered for obtaining an education, other means of instruction and of intellectual discipline were presented, in the de- bating clubs and other societies of mutual improvement.
Moreover, and let it be emphasized, there were good, pious fathers and mothers in those days, who had their pleasing stories, fairy tales, instructive legends to relate, which amused, inter- ested and kept open the leaden eyelids of the little urchins as they tired of their "flaring, idle toys." The mother putting away the spinning wheel, the father through with the moils of the day, and
"The cheerfu' supper done, wi' serious face, They, round the ingle, form a circle wide ; The sire turns o'er, wi' patriarchal grace, The big Ha' Bible, ance his father's pride ; His bonnet rev'rently is laid aside,
His lyart haffets wearing thin an' bare ;
Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide, He wales a portion with judicious care,
And ' Let us worship God !' he says, with solemn air. They chant their artless notes in simple guise,
They tune their hearts, by far the noblest aim : Perhaps Dundee's wild-warbling measures rise, Or plaintive Martyrs, worthy of the name. * =
The priest-like father reads the sacred page, How Abram was the friend of God on high ;
Or Moses bade eternal warfare wage With Amalek's ungracious progeny. * * *
Perhaps the Christian volume is the theme,
How guiltless blood for guilty man was shed ;
280
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
How He, who bore in Heaven the second name,
Had not on earth whereon to lay his head. * *
Then kneeling down to Heaven's eternal king,
The saint, the father and the husband prays ; Hope ' springs exulting on triumphant wing,'
That thus they all shall meet in future days ; There ever bask in uncreated rays,
No more to sigh, or shed the bitter tear,
Together hymning their Creator's praise,
In such society, yet still more dear ;
While circling time moves round in an eternal sphere.
28I
SKETCH OF GENERAL WOOSTER.
CHAPTER XIX.
WOOSTER.
THE seat of justice of Wayne county was laid out in the fall of 1808 by the proprietors, John Bever, William Henry and Joseph H. Larwill, and is 377 feet above Lake Erie, and was made the seat of justice for the county May 30, 1811.
It was so named by Hon. Joseph H. Larwill, in honor of the celebrated Major General David Wooster of Revolutionary renown, and a member of the old and distinguished family bearing that name.
SKETCH OF GENERAL WOOSTER.
David Wooster was born at Stratford, in Connecticut, March 2, in the year of our Lord, 1710. The strictest scrutiny of his earlier record furnishes but a meager detail of his boyhood. He was a man of prepossessing personal appearance, of rare intellectual cul- ture and accomplished education. His collegiate course was exact and scientific, answering the punctilious curriculum of Yale in 1738.
When the colony constructed what was then called "the guard-a-costa," to be employed defensively in case of assault by Spanish cruisers in 1739, he was designated as second in com- mand, and shortly was appointed Captain. At the close of this service he married a daughter of President Clapp, of Yale College, a lady said to have been admirably suited to encounter the danger- ous scenes which were already flinging their dark and ominous shadows upon the future. Valiant women always make braver, courageous men; and Mrs. Wooster had firmness, power and res-
282
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
olution of mind combined with exquisite refinement of manners, which aided him immensely in the subsequent experience of his life.
In 1745, when Colonel Burr raised a regiment in Connecticut to join the troops destined to act against Louisburg-a seaport village on the eastern coast of the Island of Cape Breton, an insu- lar colony of British North America-Captain Wooster was ap- pointed to the command of a company in that regiment, and occu- pied an active place in the reduction of that considerable fortifica- tion. After its capitulation, he was ordered to take charge of the cartel which was sent to France for exchange of prisoners. He was not at that time permitted to land in France, but hastened to Great Britian, where he was received by aristocrats, the dwellers of the Court, and velvet-sandaled Royalty itself. He even became a favorite of King George, who presented him with a Captain's baton in a regiment of Sir William Pepperell, with half pay for life.
After one of the Aix-la-Chapelle treaties, and the recession to France of the fortress mentioned, Captain Wooster retired to the serenities of home and the sanctities of private life. For awhile he lived in tranquil seclusion in New Haven, when the sky low- ered again, and the mutterings of the Titans of war were heard in the distance. In 1750 he was made Colonel of a regiment, but was not fated to remain there long, as he was soon advanced to a Brigadiership, which office he held until the peace of 1763, when once more he withdrew to the pensive shades of retirement.
We find him next in New Haven, an enterprising, public spir- ited man, engaged in commercial pursuits. We believe, at one time, he was appointed Collector of Customs of the port of New Haven. And now beams, in faint but terrible lines upon the hori- zon, the test hour to men of place and power. The cloud, not larger than a man's hand, grew rapidly, and men had to decide. General Wooster named his position from the beginning, and when the bloody logic of Concord and Lexington was sought to be taught in the school of despotism, although courts had received
283
SKETCH OF GENERAL WOOSTER.
him, kings had honored him - honored him with office - and al- though he held the king's seal, he renounced everything, and poured out "the tinkling crimson tide that plays upon the heart's red brink " for freedom from oppression and the independence of his country. And with the forethought and prescience of a wise man, he comprehended the necessity of the hour, and while Ethan Allen and Arnold executed the drama of the capture of Ticon- deroga, we must award to General Wooster a full share of the honor of the conception of the plot of that hazardous and moment- ous enterprise. He even went to Canada with Montgomery, and for awhile after that gallant soldier fell had supreme command.
In 1775, after a successful vote for the creation of an army, Congress appointed him third in rank among the Brigadiers upon that occasion. In 1776, the epochal period of the national life, he saw much bitter service, though as it was in the inception of the Revolutionary contest, few substantial laurels were achieved, the contest raging long afterward. In the same year he was ap- pointed Major General of the militia of Connecticut, with a super- visory control of the military stores, which were kept near Dan- bury. The British had a jealous eye upon these provisions, and with a force of two thousand men under Tryon, sought their cap- ture, and succeeded. General Wooster, with seven hundred raw recruits, attacked them April 27, 1776, but, forced to retreat, re- ceived a fatal wound. He had, however, the comfort of dying in the sacred circle of his family, on the 2d of May, 1777. His last words were, "I am dying, but with the strong hope and persua- sion that my country will gain her independence."
His remains were ensepulchered at Danbury, Connecticut. On June 17, 1777, Congress voted that a suitable monument should be erected to his memory, but measures never were inaug- urated to execute the resolution. His grave was not identified until 1854, when, by an Act of the Legislature of that State, the corner-stone of a monument was laid. No wonder our independ- ence was achieved when such intrepid spirits leagued and fell for it ! What a priceless boon they have bequeathed to us! What a
284
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
debt of love, what a flame of praise we should kindle at the altar of their remembered names!
We discover, then, that illustrious and patriotic memories sur- rounded the baptism of Wooster. It started in its infancy with the inspiration of the Revolutionary spirit. May it, in the sub- lime and noble aspirations of a riper and maturer life, glorify the magnificent achievements that spirit prompted !
Wooster, it may here be remarked, was not the first county- seat. The place designated by the first Commissioners was on the eminence east of south of the city, on lands then owned by Baza- leel Wells & Co., and was called Madison. Dissatisfaction accrued from this selection, whereupon the Legislature appointed new Commissioners, when the present Wooster was chosen as the county-seat. But a single cabin was erected in Madison.
VACATION OF TOWN OF MADISON.
Bazaleel Wells, John Shorb and Joseph Dorsey, proprietors of the town of Madison, in the county of Wayne, having, according to the conditions of the sale of lots in said town, returned the sums of money heretofore received of the purchasers of said lots, and taken up their respective certificates therefor, whereby they are the sole proprietors and owners of said town, and the lots therein, by John Goodenow, their attorney, applied to the Court, then in session, February 21, 1814, to vacate the same, according to the provisions of the statute in such cases made and provided.
Whereupon the Court, at its April session, 1814, ordered that the town plat of the town of Madison, in the county of Wayne, be vacated.
The first settlers in Wooster, and in Wayne county, were the three Larwill brothers, to-wit: William, Joseph and John.
The first house erected in the town or county was a "log-tem- ple," on East Liberty street, directly west of what was subse- quently known as the William Larwill property. The principal tools employed in its construction were a broad-ax and drawing-
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