History of Wayne county, Ohio, from the days of the pioneers and the first settlers to the present time, Part 54

Author: Douglass, Ben, 1836-1909
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : R. Douglass
Number of Pages: 926

USA > Ohio > Wayne County > History of Wayne county, Ohio, from the days of the pioneers and the first settlers to the present time > Part 54

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).

The Church of God .- This was built at Moreland in 1843, Adam Weiker, Isaac Tate and Samuel Metzler being the principal movers in the religious enterprise. Messrs. Weiker and Tate designed the building and superintended its construction. The first preachers after the church was built were Archibald Megrew and Jona- than West. Present ministers-Revs. Martin Beck and Samuel Deckerhoff, with a membership of about thirty. William Metzler furnished these facts.

M. E. Church .- The first Methodist Episcopal church was built in More- land about 1830-a one-story frame building, 30x30, located on Robert Buckley's lands, donated by him for that purpose. The names of the first Methodists in the vicinity were John Floyd, wife and daughter; William Force and Sarah, his wife ; Peter Kiser and wife ; Jacob Kiser and wife; Hannah Force and Abraham Force; Michael Kinney and wife, and Robert Buckley and wife. For fifteen years before this church was built Methodist service was held at the private house of William P. Force. The first preachers were Rev. Evans, Rev. James Wilson, Rev. Abner Goff, Rev. Harry O. Sheldon, and Rev. Russel Bigelow, who was the first Pre- siding Elder. The second Methodist church was built in the summer of 1863. Present minister-Rev. McCartney, with a congregation of about ninety and a pros- perous Sunday-school.

Trinity English Lutheran Church .- The church of this congregation was built in 1861, on land donated by David Lawrence. Individual members furnished the material, cut the timber, hauled the logs, etc. David Geitgey was the principal carpenter, D. J. Snider and David Lawrence his assistants. The existence of this church is due to a discussion and difference between the members of the old Jacob's church, as to whether there should be German and English preaching. The first members of the Trinity came from Jacob's church, and were Jonathan Snider and his sons, John, D. J., Joseph and Jonathan, and Jacob and William Patton and their families. Rev. J. B. Baltzley, was their first preacher, and organized the church with eighteen members. Then came Rev. W. W. Lang, who remained pas- tor for seven years, who was succeeded by Rev. E. B. Crouse; then Father Sloane, of Wooster, as a supply for a year ; then Rev. Fryberger. There is now a member- ship of about fifty. An excellent Sunday-school, with one hundred pupils, is con- nected with the church. Superintendent of the Sunday-school, Jacob H. Snider ; officers, Israel Franks, Henry Kauffman, S. P. Chase, D. J. Snider.

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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.

Jacob Harmon was born in Montgomery county, Pa., Decem- ber 31, 1791. His father, Conrad, was a shoemaker, with whom Jacob worked for many years, never having but two months En- glish schooling in his life. He came to Wooster township in the spring of 1818, then a single man. He was married to Catharine Hoff, October 10, 1820, and has had ten children. She died April 27, 1872. When he came to the county, he says, there were In- dians to be seen, and he remembers seeing Simon Rice, accom- panied by his brother William, spear and kill a bear near the farm of ex-Judge John K. McBride. He is now eighty-seven years of age, and is a member of the Lutheran church.

Stephen M. Henry, son of John and grandson of Stephen Henry, was born in Wayne county, September 8, 1825. He has been twice married ; first, March 7, 1850, to Delilah Burnett, and second, to Catharine Burnett, half-sister of his first wife, and has lived in Franklin township since April 1, 1858. Mr. Henry is an energetic man, with positive and pronounced opinions, and a Dem- ocrat of the old Jacksonian type. He is a public-spirited, influen- tial citizen, has served nine years as Justice of the Peace, and six years as Commissioner of Wayne county, in all of which positions he acquitted himself with honor.

Thomas Dowty, the father of Thomas Dowty, was a South Carolinian, born about 1785. His grandfather, David Dowty, was a farmer and dealer in blooded horses, and removed to Kentucky, and thence to Athens county, Ohio, where he died. His son, Thomas Dowty, emigrated to Wayne county in 1811, settling on a farm east of Wooster, on the State road. Here he entered eighty acres of land and remained a few years, when he went to Franklin township in 1814, where he entered 160 acres of land, now owned by the heirs of Adam Weiker. He settled in the woods, built a cabin, lived in it without a floor, etc., and staid to 1830, when he removed to the farm now owned by his son, Thomas Dowty, and here his death occurred in 1842. He was married to Rosa Sowards, a Kentucky lady, and raised six children. He was re-married to Hannah Young, of Holmes county. Thomas Dowty, his son, was born November 27, 1806, in Athens county, Ohio, and was married October 20, 1836, to Sarah Ann Cavenee, of Columbia county, Pennsylvania. David Dowty, we were informed by Thomas, who was his cousin, was the first white boy born in

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Wayne county, that event transpiring in Wooster, his father's name being Daniel Dowty.

The farm upon which Thomas Dowty now lives is said to be the first one entered in Franklin township, and by old James Mor- gan .* Upon his premises, and near his house, in 1874, he con- structed a beautiful fish-pond, supplied from a strong spring, in which are many varieties of fish. He is a generous and warm- hearted man, characterized by a true Southern hospitality, sociable- ness and friendliness of feeling.

John McIntire, the father of Cornelius, was born in County Derry, Ireland, in 1755, and immigrated to America in 1782, settling in York, Pa., as a farmer. He remained there fifteen years, then removed to near Steubenville, on the old Mingo Bot- toms, Jefferson county, Ohio, and in 1820 came to Franklin town- ship, Wayne county. He had eight children-John, James, Smith, William, Archibald, Cornelius, Sarah and Catherine, none of whom survive, except Cornelius.

Cornelius McIntire was born in Fayette county, Pa., July 20, 1800, and came to Wayne county with his father in 1820. He immediately went to clearing land, and the same season had four acres in wheat. January 24, 1828, he was married to Nancy Rayl, who was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in 1811, and moved in 1819 to Franklin township, the marriage resulting in thirteen children, to wit: Mary Jane, George (dead), Reasin, Hannah, Sarah A. (dead), Sophronia (dead), Cornelius, William, Ezra, Elizabeth, Susan, John W. (dead) and Jacob (dead). The family at this time is considerably scattered. The old folks cele- brated their golden wedding, the fiftieth anniversary of their mar- ried life, on January 24, 1878, by a grand dinner, to which rela- tives and neighbors were gathered, and all had a happy time in talking of old times and eating off a table that Mr. and Mrs. McIntire had had ever since their marriage.

He is a solid, substantial and industrious citizen. His son, William McIntire, born February 10, 1843, is married to Sarah King, of Franklin township, and has two sons, Warren and Jacob.

Killing a Bear .- Shortly after coming to Franklin township, Cornelius McIn- tire killed a bear that weighed four hundred pounds. In relating the incident, he

*Mr. Dowty says John Larwill so informed him.

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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY .OHIO.

says that a neighbor hoy discovered the bear's track and told him about it, and he was soon after bruin with his gun and dogs. The bear took to a swamp, from where the dogs drove it finally, Cornelius giving it a shot, but not killing it. He pursued it to Little Salt creek, and then his brother James joined him, and they followed the bear to Newman's creek swamp, where they killed it, sold the meat to neighbors around there, carrying some bome, together with the bear's hide, which they kept as a trophy of the chase.

Ephraim Cutter, a native of New Jersey, was born in 1789, and came to Holmes county as early as 1816, removing to Wayne county in 1827, settling north of Moreland one half mile, on the farm now owned by Solomon Tate. He eventually removed to Huntington county, Indiana, where he died twenty years ago. He was married to Sarah Edgar, of Columbia county, Pa., and had eleven children.

John Cutter was born in Northampton county, Pa., January 8, 1793; came to Holmes county in 1818, and removed to Wayne county in 1831, settling on the farm where he now lives. He was married in Holmes county, April 20, 1824, to Hannah Peterman, of Columbia county, Pa., and has had seven children - Charity, Mary and Elizabeth, James, John, Ephraim and A. B. Cutter. Ephraim is in Australia, whither he went in 1852. A. B. lives in Holmes county ; James in Franklin township; and John W. Cutter married M. A. Sellers, of Holmes county, and lives with his father. His wife died October 9, 1868. Ephraim and he were both soldiers in the war of 1812. Mr. Cutter is dis- tinguished for his kind and generous nature and his many good and noble qualities of head and heart.

Samuel Cutter was born in Columbia county, Pa., in 1803, and removed to Holmes county, Ohio, with his father in 1820. In 1822 he went to Wooster and was married to Deborah Sprague, of that city. He was a blacksmith, learning his trade with Mason & McMillen, of Wooster. He was elected Sheriff of Wayne county in 1846, afterwards removing to Wayne township and thence to Medina county, where he now lives.

Aaron Franks, a native of Fayette county, Pa., where he was born in 1801, emigrated to Wayne county in 1827, landing April It at his brother Jacob's, then living in East Union township, with whom he staid for nearly a year, when he removed to Franklin township, settling upon the farm where he now lives.

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FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.

Philip Smith was the first owner of this farm, Mr. Franks being the fourth, he having erected upon it all the present improve- ments. He has been twice married ; first to Rebecca Sulifend, October 18, 1823, of Fayette county, Pa., and by this marriage had nine children ; second to Angeline, daughter of Peter Zaring, Esq., of Jefferson, Plain township, August 31, 1875. His first wife died February 1I, 1868.

Mr. Franks is a good business man, and, in his younger days, a public spirited, active citizen. He is a man of intelligence, worth and reliability ; has accumulated a competence, and, in his older years, has every comfort of life surrounding him. He is social, communicative, and will probe you with a joke, and in con- versation will trap you or set you on the brink of a pitfall, with- out previous admonition. His relations to the public have always been beneficial, and his career as Coroner of Wayne county was marked by ability, shrewdness and economy.

John Harrison was born August 1, 1796, in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, seven miles south-west of Uniontown. His father's name was Peter Harrison, a farmer, who was raised in Maryland, but removed from there to Fayette county, and from thence to Columbiana county, Ohio, and again to Harrison county, where he died. Peter Harrison had fifteen children, all of whom but the oldest and youngest lived to be men and women.

John and Elisha Harrison are the only two of that family who came to Wayne county to live. John came in May, 1816, having been married April 30, preceding, to Margaret Dysert, of Vir- ginia. He and his young wife came to Wayne county on horse- back, packing 150 pounds of flour in his wife's bed, seventy miles, from Harrison county, Ohio, and settled down in the woods, within a mile of their present residence in Franklin township. They were the parents of eleven children, six of whom (three sons and three daughters) are living. Mr. Harrison is one of the best citizens of Franklin township. William Harrison, his uncle, came to Frank- lin township as early as 1813, and settled on the farm now owned by the widow of James Finley.

Recollections of John Harrison .- Salt was worth six cents per pound when I came here. Bought a two-horse wagon from old Billy Poulson, about 1826, and paid for it in salt ; went to Cleveland for it; obtained one barrel there and one barrel ten miles out of the city. These two barrels of salt paid for the wagon-price, thirty dollars. A bushel of wheat would pay for a pound of coffee, the former being of

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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.

little cash account until the canal was opened. There were some Indians about- plenty of them on Martin's creek. Old chief Dan. Lyon remained after the other Indians left ; he would make wooden ladles and exchange them for bacon ; had smart children.

Old' Jonathan Grant lived on the Holmes county side of the line, but in Wayne county then. He was a sort of spy, and an agent to look after the interests of first settlers. The Government had him employed, and donated him one hundred and sixty acres of land where he lived. He lived in true aboriginal style-in an open shanty, between the logs of which dogs could jump; had no floor, and was cov- ered with bark ; was a great hunter; bear and deer-skins covered his shanty ; prayed and swore in the same breath. The Larwills waited on him in his last sick- ness ; died of cancer, over fifty years ago.

Thomas L. Smith was born in Westmoreland county, Pa., May 17, 18II, and is a son of Thomas Smith, whose occupation was that of farmer. Mr. Smith emigrated to Wayne county in 1842, arriving at Fredericksburg in August of that year. He was mar- ried in July, 1845, to Mary A. Powers, of Allegheny City, Pa., and has seven children. He was a member of the old Seceder church, united with this organization under the ministry of Rev. Samuel Irvine at Fredericksburg, upon his arrival, and at present is a United Presbyterian. Mr. Smith is an intelligent, industrious farmer, distinguished for his earnestness in all good work, and for his purity of life and integrity of conduct.

William P. Force, a citizen of New Jersey, removed to Pennsylvania, thence to Wayne county, Ohio, in 1821, settling south of Moreland, on the farm now owned by Adam Weiker. Here he lived until his death in 1830, and was the first person buried in the Moreland graveyard. He had ten children. He was a member of the Methodist church, an excellent and pious man, whose house was open to every one and whose liberality was great. William Force, his son, was born January 3, 1804, in Columbia county, Pa., and came to this county with his father in 1821 and was married September 1, 1825, to Lucinda Sowards of the State of Kentucky, who was born February 4, 1808. Mr. Force, like his father, is a member of the Methodist church, has been a class- leader for 25 years, and an exhorter for twenty years in that church. He is a farmer, an upright, high-minded man of enlight- ened views and independent judgment.

Moses McCammon was born in County Down, Ireland, and im- migrated to America in 1819, landing at Boston. In the New England States he remained three years teaching school, when he

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FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.

removed to Cadiz, Ohio. From there he went to Kendall (Mas- sillon), and worked in a cloth factory for a Mr. Thomas Roach, and soon removed to Wayne county, where he found employment in Stibbs' woolen factory, and where he worked six years. He then removed to a farm east of Moreland, where he lived thirty years; but selling it, he went to Moreland and resided there three years, when he removed to Ripley township, Holmes county, and purchased a small tract of land, his wife dying September 16, 1863. After her death Mr. McCammon returned to Franklin township, and spent the remainder of his days with his daughter Mary, wife of Jonathan Saunders, where he died August 30, 1868, aged 86 years. He was married in Ireland to Sarah Brown, of County Down, and had nine children.

Mr. McCammon was, in many respects, a remarkable man, and possessed a wonderful fund of intelligence. He enjoyed a remark- able familiarity with the old English, Scotch and Irish poets. He believed that he, too, was a poet, and has written enough verse to make considerable of a volume. Some of it does not rise above the level of galloping doggerel; much of it possesses sterling poetic merit and will bear comparison with the better products of our accepted and popular writers. He seems to have been a rhymer by nature, and his lines jingle like sleigh-bells on a winter morning. Burns has been his especial favorite, and why should he not have been ?

He has imitated The Twa Dogs, his Lines to a Mouse, his epistles, epitaphs; has been humorous, pathetic, contemplative, splenetic, saturnine and sentimental. He has sung of Venus, Mars and Momus. He is mirthful, hilarious, and at times his pen is a fountain, out of which gushes and bubbles merriment and laughter. He passed up and down the aisles of the world singing, obscurely, it is true, sometimes, but nevertheless in the moods and with the gifts of song.

He was a genial, social, rare old Irish gentleman ; lived a good and quiet life, blameless in his ways before men ; and if Fame did not press her trump to her fickle lips and blow him to the world, he died with the solace that he was not a stranger to books-that he had held soul-relations with dead but mighty thinkers. He had but limited education, and believed more in the " spark o' Na- ture's fire " than

"A' your jargon o' your schools, Your Latin names for horns and stools, If honest Nature made you fools."

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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.

We regret that our space forbids the publication of the pathetic Scotch poem in our possession, but will introduce the following :

CONTEMPLATION.

Come, Contemplation, lonely Power, That loveth the still and solemn hour,

Come gaze upon those orbs that roll In silence round the glowing pole;

The sparkling planet's borrowed beam,

The fixed stars less refulgent stream,

And meteors that with lurid glare,

Shoot sudden through the parting air,

And robed in transitory fire

Ere thought can reach their course, expire.

Fancy expand thy wings of light, And speed thro' heaven my lofty flight ;

I see ten thousand systems rise, And other orbs gild other skies- And quicker than the solar ray, I shoot along the Milky Way, And various unknown world's explore, And wander all their beauties o'er.

Thence as I gaze with curious eye, Far o'er the regions of the sky, Earth seems to float in ether bright, A trembling spark of moving light ; In silent course around her twines The silver moon, and fainter shines ; The sun himself, now viewed afar, Seems but a more refulgent star.

O! could I run my airy race Amid the boundless realms of space- Till all these systems glittering here, In distance lost would disappear- Even then, before my wondering eyes, New globes would glow, new stars arise, New suns with radiant glory stream, New planets glitter in their beam ; And by resistless impulse hurled, New comets blaze from world to world.

EPITAPH-Here, underneath, lies honest Chubb Who drove his wheels thro' many a dub ; Him sober saints no more shall snub Or zealots jeer him ; Their hearts they'd need to cleanse and scrub Ere they get near him.

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FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.

REMINISCENCES OF JOHN BUTLER, A JUSTICE OF THE PEACE OF FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.

The Indians Burn Thomas Butler's Cabin .- Mr. Butler being absent at his father-in-law's, the Indians burned his cabin. The cause was presumed to be as fol- lows: Butler had raised considerable corn in the bottoms, and had a good many hogs. A gang of Indians passed one day, and shot one of them. Mr. Butler fol- lowed after and found them encamped in the region of the present site of Shreve. He went to the Chief and told him the circumstance, and that he must pay him ; the Chief going to the thief and telling him he must pay for the hog. He asked him what he killed the hog for, whereupon the Indian replied, " I wanted grease." The Chief made him pay for the animal, Mr. Butler receiving in pay therefor two deer skins, which the Indian indignantly kicked toward him. It was soon after this that Mr. Butler's cabin was burned, and he claimed that gang of Indians did it. He now erected the hewed log house that stands exactly on the spot of the early conflagration. Here Mr. Butler lived, raised his family, and died March 17, 1837.

The Morgan Block House .- This Fort stood on the Thomas Dowty farm, and but a few rods from his house, and was quite a large structure, and a source of pro- tection to the pioneers. During the summer of Hull's Surrender a company of soldiers was stationed here from Tuscarawas county. A would-be brave soldier of this company was ever boasting of his courage, and ached for an opportunity to have a fight with the Indians. The boys concluded they would accommodate him. They caused to be painted and decked in true Indian costume one of their number, and had bim secrete himself in a swamp close by. The company proceeded on one of its scouts and passed by this swamp, when the mythical Indian sprang out, yelling, and pointing his gun, took after this Sir Valiant soldier, who rushed at the top of his speed and concealed himself in a marsh. The company and the painted gentleman rapidly returned to the Block House. Soon thereafter the would-be Indian-fighter, who had lost his shoes in the swamp, returned. Some of the boys went in search of his shoes and brought them to camp .*

Old Chief Lyon Delivers his " Checks."-Alexander Bell, of Holmesville, in- formed 'Squire Butler that when he was a boy he went to old Lyon's camp, near the mouth of the Butler Spring run, and found him in a sick condition in his hut. Lyon asked Bell to take his camp-kettle and bring him some fresh water, which he did, when Lyon asked him to look at his tongue. Bell told him how it looked, wben the old Chief said, " Me dead Indian." Bell said, " I will go and tell Jess Morgan, if you wish me to," to which old Lyon consented. Jess came, accompa- nied by Bell, and found the old Chief very sick, whereupon he repaired to San- dusky and communicated the facts to his Indian friends, when several of them came along back with Jess. They took the old Indian upon one of their ponies, but in a few days the news was received of his death.

Throughout the entire county we have heard vague recollec- tions expressed concerning this old chief. The early settlers all knew him, as he visited their cabins, and frequently was a source of terror to women and children.

*For further particulars inquire of John Butler, Esq.

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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.

CHAPTER XXII.

EAST UNION TOWNSHIP

WAS formed September 5, 1814. According to the best informa- tion it was named by Simon Chaffin, Sr., who was a native of Union, Maine. The population of this township in 1870 was 1,865. We append the official record from 1846 :*

1846. Trustees-Bethuel Munn, John L. Cheyney, Josiah Milbourn; Clerk -Henry Bevington; Treasurer-Alexander Ramsey; Assessor-William Black- wood.

1847. Trustees-Conrad Franks, John L. Cheyney, Joshua Kelley ; Clerk- Henry Bevington; Treasurer-Alexander Ramsey ; Assessor-H. Bevington.

1848. Trustees-Conrad Franks, Joshua Kelley, Joseph Hunter ; Clerk- Henry Bevington ; Treasurer-Alexander Ramsey; Assessor-Henry Bevington.

1849. Trustees-Joshua Kelley, Josiah Milbourn, George Hackett ; Clerk- H. Bevington ; Treasurer-James McClure; Assessor-Henry Bevington.

1850. Trustees-Jacob Knight, Robert Sweeney, G. S. Franks ; Clerk-H. Bevington ; Treasurer-John Hindman; Assessor -- John J. Brown.

1851. Trustees-Jacob Knight, Joseph Hunter, Robert Sweeney ; Clerk- Henry Bevington; Treasurer-John Hindman ; Assessor-H. Bevington.

1852. Trustees-Alexander Ramsey, Joseph Hunter, Leonard Langell; Clerk -- H. Bevington ; Treasurer-John Hindman ; Assessor-H. Bevington.

1853. Trustees-Alexander Ramsey, Joseph Hunter, Henry Hoover ; Clerk- H. Bevington ; Treasurer-John Hindman; Assessor-Joshna Kelly.

1854. Trustees- Alexander Ramsey, Henry Hoover, Andrew Milbourn; Clerk-H. Bevington ; Treasurer-John Hindman ; Assessor-A. H. Bevington. 1855. Trustees - J. H. Hitchcock, George Hacket, George T. Hughes; Clerk-A. H. Bevington ; Treasurer-David Clark ; Assessor-H. Bevington.

1856. Trustees-Joseph Hunter, George J. Barnhart, Samuel Jewell; Clerk- Levi Reiter ; Treasurer-John Hindman ; Assessor-J. W. Crumly.

1857. Trustees-George Steel, G. T. Hughes, J. S. Eshelman; Clerk-H. Bevington; Treasurer-John Hindman ; Assessor-J. W. Crumly.

1858. Trustees-Robert Cook, G. J. Barnhart, Andrew Moore, Jr .; Clerk- Levi Reiter ; Treasurer-Amos Brown; Assessor-George Steel.

#Record lost prior to this time, and a similar deficiency occurs in a majority of the townships. Record of Justices throughout the county entirely missing prior to 1830. The names of first Justices given in some instances were obtained from personal recollection of old settlers.

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EAST UNION TOWNSHIP.

1859. Trustees-Robert Cook, Andrew Moore, William Blackwood; Clerk- Levi Reiter ; Treasurer-Amos Brown; Assessor-George Steel.

1860. Trustees-James McClure, Andrew Moore, Joseph Hunter; Clerk- Levi Reiter ; Treasurer-Amos Brown ; Assessor-Abijah Munn.

1861. Trustees-Joseph Hunter, William Blackwood, Samuel Smedley ; Clerk-J. C. Kurtz; Treasurer-Amos Brown ; Assessor-Abijah Munn.

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History of Wayne county, Ohio, from the days of the pioneers and the first settlers to the present time, Part 54

Author: Douglass, Ben, 1836-1909 Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : R. Douglass Number of Pages: 926

Author: Douglass, Ben, 1836-1909
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : R. Douglass
Number of Pages: 926