History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. II, Part 48

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co.
Number of Pages: 680

USA > Ohio > History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. II > Part 48

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A Sunday-school was early organized here, and has been generally well sustained. The church is not as prosperous at the present time as form- erly.

The Methodists very early erected a log church building and organized a class in the southern and eastern part of the township. Jerry Clark, one of the colored men before mentioned, made a gift of land upon which the building was erected, and in which the Methodists of that vicinity worshiped many years. This class, however, was not kept up, and no services have been held in the church for many years. Last year the old log building, gray and decayed with age, was pulled down and taken away. Nothing remains to mark the spot but the few weather- beaten tombstones in the little grave-yard. For many years the Methodists in this part of the township were without an organization, and at- tended church either at Mount Zion or over on the Ohio river, at the church located within the limits of New Albany township.

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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

About 1869 Frederick Hartman and some others succeeded in establishing a Sabbath-school in the election-house that Mr. Tabler had erected at his would-be town, Buchanan. This school grew and prospered to such a degree that it laid the foundation of the present Embury Methodist church, a frame building located near No. I school-house, about a mile north of Buchanan, on the Elizabethtown road. The Sunday-school was after å time removed to and continued at the school-house, where preaching was had occasionally, both being so well sus- tained that it was deemed advisable to erect a church building. William Z. Aydelotte was one of the principal workers in collecting funds for the erection of this church, and gave liberally of his means for that purpose. Mr. Hiram Bence also gave liberally, and all the people of the neighborhood contributed according to their means, and the church was erected with the understanding that it was to be open to all denominations freely, though really belonging strictly to the Methodists. The building cost about $5,000. The church and Sabbath-school are strong and active at present.

The Hopewell Baptist church is located in the centre of a Baptist neighborhood, near the west- ern line of the township and south of the Eliza- bethtown road. The organization is known to this day as the "Hard-shell" or "Iron-side-two seed" Baptist, believing that one generation is born to go to hell and another to heaven. Wil- liam Sypher was the man who established this church. He was a rather remarkable person in some respects, beginning the ministry, it is said, at the tender age of thirteen years. At that age he preached George Parker's funeral sermon, and stood upon a chair in the cabin for that purpose. Mr. Sypher lived and preached in that and the adjoining neighborhoods all his life, living to the age of eighty years. For many years prior to his death he had been familiarly known as "Lit- tle Billy," as he was a very small, withered-up specimen of humanity, but a man of considera- ble force of character and natural talent.

The old log church was erected so long ago that no one now living remembers about it, and there is no written record; but Mr. Sypher suc- ceeded in building up a pretty strong church here having the right kind of materials for his purpose. It prospered until 1858, when there

was a split in this ancient body. The members got into a dispute among themselves as to whether Christ was real flesh and blood or a spirit, when he made his celebrated visit to this little world. Sypher took the spiritual view, and carrying with him about half of his congregation, repaired to what is known as the "Onion" school- house, where he continued his preaching until his death. This was a hard blow to old Hope- well; but she stood it nobly and yet keeps up her organization. The school-house in which Sypher preached and organized his separate church is located on Hardin Onion's land, in an Onion neighborhood, and his congregation was known as the "Little Billy party." After Mr. Sypher's death in 1879, Benjamin F. Williams took his place and has continued the preaching at the same place up to the present time. These churches do not believe in Sunday-schools. Each of these two Baptist churches now num- bers about twenty or twenty-five members.

Robert Lafollette was a member of Sypher's church for fifty years or more.

The Campbellites or Christians have an organ- ized church at Number 4 school-house, and hold services once a month. It was organized in 1867, by William Edwards and Moses Smith, both of Edwardsville, who officiate as ministers of this congregation. The principal members at the date of organization were Peter Blunk, George Carpenter, Amanda Lafollette, Marion Tabler and wife, and some others. A Sunday- school was organized about the time the church came into existence, and it is yet well sustained. The present membership of the church is about thirty.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

James Tabler was born in Pennyslvania, June 19, 1806. His father, Peter Tabler, came to this county when James was but an infant, though remaining a short time in Harrison county. He was a farmer by occupation, and settled in Frank- lin county. James was educated in the com- mon schools and was a farmer by occupation though he was a pilot on the Yazoo river for a number of years. On May 12, 1837, he was married to Lydia Page, a native of Norwich, . Norfolk county, England. She was born Febru- ary 27, 1822, and came to New York city when but a child. Her mother dying when she was a child her father led a roving life. She had

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thirteen children, the names of those living be- ing William, Elizabeth (Hines), Josephine (Mur- phy), Margaret, Milvina, Eliza. James Tabler died January 23, 1879. He was a member of the Catholic church. Mrs. Tabler manages the farm as a stock and grain farm.

CHAPTER XV. GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP.

ORGANIZATION.

This was the last township created in Floyd county, and appears to have been made almost wholly out of the northern half of Franklin township. The latter township was much too long for the width of it, which rendered it very inconvenient for the settlers in the extreme north and south parts to reach the place of holding elections. The settle ments were not extensive, however-the township settling up very slowly, on account of the rather inferior quality of the land-until after the establishment of the village of Georgetown, in 1833. All new towns are am- bitious, and if they cannot become county seats, may at least aspire to be the center of the town- ship business. This was the case with George- town village. The farming land in the vicinity of the village is very fair; the first settlement was made there, and people settled more rapidly and numerously in that than in any other part of Franklin township. These and other circum -. stances led to the petition for a new township; hence the following very imperfect record is found upon the county commissioners' books, under date of November 6, 1837: -

Ordered, that Franklin township, in Floyd county, be di- vided as follows: From the corner of John Ross' land to the - corner of John Bill's land, - corner of Frederick Hanger's land , and the north -- part of said lines, to be called Georgetown township, and the south - part Franklin township; and the place of holding elections in Georgetown township to be at some house in Georgetown, and that of Franklin to be at the house of John Snyder.

· Why the above entry on the commissioners' record was never perfected, or why it was made at all in this imperfect condition, remains a mys- tery; but Georgetown township was thereafter a fixed fact. Franklin was cut in its narrowest

part from east to west, and this act severed from Franklin township the best portion of it, agri- culturally considered.

TOPOGRAPHY, ETC.

Georgetown is fairly an agricultural district. It is gently rolling and in some places hilly, but the surface is mostly tillable. The soil is light clay-light not only in color, but in weight-and contains but little grit or sand. It is by no means a strong soil, but produces fairly of all the crops usually produced in other townships of tbe county. With careful cultivation and favor- able seasons, comparatively large crops can be produced.

The range of hills known as "the knobs" throws out a spur to the westward from the lower end of the city of New Albany, which extends across New Albany township and penetrates the eastern part of this township, the western ter- minus of this spur being at Edwardsville, where it connects with the Knob Creek hills. These latter hills extend in a general way south from Edwardsville, and join the main range of knobs in the southern part of Franklin township. Down through this spur winds the headwaters of Mid- dle creek, which has its rise in the numerous springs around the head of the spur upon which Edwardsville is built. It is said that the same spring near the village that forms one of the sources of Knob creek, also contributes to the waters of Middle creek.

The only untillable part of this township is in the vicinity of Edwardsville, where this spur of the knobs enters it. The surface here is very much broken and heavily timbered. Beyond this spur the whole surface of the township falls off gradually to the westward and northward, un- til it ends in the valley of Indian creek.

The township is watered by the numerous tributaries of Indian creek, which generally flow northwest. The surface of the township is high- est near its southern line, from which the waters flow north and northwest into Indian creek and south into the Ohio river. Most of the tributa- ries of Indian creek retain the nanie "Indian," as "Big" and "Little" Indian, "South," "West," "East," or "North" branch of Big or Little Indian, as the case may be; the main creek in this town- ship, although known to many as the Little branch of Big Indian, is usually called Whiskey

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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

run, from the fact that in an early day a large number of distilleries were in operation on its banks. This stream rises in the knobs in the vicinity of Edwardsville, and, taking a general westward course through the central part of the township, passes through Georgetown village, and turning northwest enters Big Indian creek within the limits of the township. When the county was new and uncleared this was a fair-sized creek; but it is now nothing but a brook, and is almost or entirely dry during a portion of the year. The first settlement in the township, and about the first in the county, was made on this stream.

The northeastern portion of the township is drained by Little Indian creek, which, rising in the knobs in the northern part of Lafayette township, bears south, or southwest, until it reaches the eastern line of this township, when it makes a great bend, turning northwest and north, passing across the northeastern corner of this township, entering Greenville township, and, turning again to the west, joins Big Indian in the southern part of the latter township. It sends out a few small branches into the northern and eastern part of this township.

The Big Indian passes across the northwest corner of the township, entering Harrison county and pursuing a very winding way, generally southwest, to the Ohio in that county. At Cory- don it is joined by Little Indian creek No. I.

THE RAILWAY AND TUNNEL.

This township is favored . by the passage through it of the New Albany & St. Louis Air Line railroad, which is at this time in process of construction, a large number of workmen being employed along the line in this and New Albany townships. The well known tunnel on this road is wholly in this township, and furnishes the exit through which the train will escape from the valley enclosed by the knobs. The railroad fol- lows up the valley of Middle creek, winding about among the hills, valleys, cliffs, and crags of the spur before mentioned, until it reaches the vicinity of Edwardsville. Here the spur coming to an abrupt and rugged termination, compels the company to tunnel it. This tunnel was com- menced several years ago, when the first com- pany was formed for the purpose of putting this road through. That company did a great deal

of work on it-in fact, nearly completed it-but failed before the work was wholly done. The tunnel is 4,689 feet long; and but twenty feet of this distance remained when the first company was compelled to abandon the work for want of funds. Edward Cummings was the first con- tractor, and continued drilling and blasting through this solid limestone rock for nearly three years. The work was renewed in April, 1881, and promises success. Daylight shone through the tunnel for the first time September 2, 188r. The present contractors are Hay, Meyer & Co., Mr. George Simmons being the company and the active man in the construction of the road in the eastern part of this township. This com- pany have the contract for building three miles of the road along here, and have sub-let the fin- ishing of the tunnel to Messrs. Murphy & Brad- ford, residents of Edwardsville. The work is continued night and day by about thirty work- men, the drilling and blasting being done without machinery. The excavation is eighty-nine feet below the surface at the highest point, and two air shafts over seventy feet in depth have been sunk from the surface of the hill. The tunnel is about fifteen feet wide and twenty-four feet high, and will cost, when completed, in round numbers, about $1,000,000.

A sad accident occurred in this tunnel on the 15th of October, 1881, while it was in process of construction, by the caving in of a portion of the tunnel roof. Two of the employes, Robert Decker and Con. Sullivan were killed, and Joseph F. Wier received some injury.

All along the line of the road through this township is heard and seen the busy notes of preparation for the laying of the track and the coming of that great civilizer, the railway train. Very soon the scream of the locomotive and the thunder of the rushing train will be heard in the land, and the Air Line, that has for so many years been in the thoughts of the people, and which has failed and come up through much tribulation and labor, will be an accomplished fact. It is already scattering its blessings along the line by disbursing the millions it takes to build it among those who earn it by their labor. A new tele- graph line has recently been put up along the entire line of the road, and trains are already running on its western division.

The railroad enters the township from the east

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over the eastern line of section Thirty-one, and enters the tunnel almost under the northern edge of the village of Edwardsville, coming out near the church about a half mile distant, where it is proposed to erect a station, It then bends a little south and striking the valley of Whiskey run, follows it to Georgetown, where it leaves the stream and twining south passes into Harri- son county.

TIMBER AND UNDERGROWTH.

When the first settlers entered this township, near the beginning of this century, it was en- tirely covered with timber ; there were no swamps of any extent, nor any waste places or prairie. The timber was not so rank in growth as that along the Ohio river, nor so dense ; the woods were more open and consisted mostly of oak, sugar, beech, and hickory, though oak pre- dominated. There was also plenty of chestnut and many other varieties of hard wood. The chestnuts and acorns were the principal attrac- tions of the deer, which were found here in great numbers. The animals also love to resort to the open woods and feed on the small oak bushes and other undergrowth that continually spring up. In many places the ground was covered to considerable depth with wild pea-vines, and the leaves of the trees and stray branches falling upon these, often formed a thick, almost impen- etrable covering for the ground. When the deer could be driven into this covering they could be captured as easily as if driven into a deep snow, for their sharp feet would penetrate the mass and become entangled in the vines. In places it was very difficult for the hunter to get through, as well as his game; the trees "ap- peared like stakes driven into the ground, no sign of roots being visible."

INDIANS.

Mr. L. Yenawine, whose father was among the earliest settlers, says that a party of fifteen or twenty Indians came every fall for some years after the family settled here, and camped near a spring where Mr. Yenawine had erected his cabin (and near which his son now lives) for the purpose of hunting the deer. "They were a jolly lot of young bucks, and seemed greatly to enjoy their lives." They would take turns re- maining in camp, two of them attending it. while the remainder were hunting. This fine spring

now furnishes water for the family, as three- fourths of a century ago, when it was in the midst of a dense forest, it poured forth its waters for the red man and the deer. In front of Mr. Yenawine's house and near the bank of the creek (Whiskey run) have been found great num- bers of arrow-points, stone hatchets, and other implements of Indian manufacture, indicating an old camping-ground of the red man. With- out doubt this was a favorite and perhaps per- manent camping-place, on account of its prox- imity to both the spring and the creek.

WILD BEASTS.

Deer, bears, and wild turkeys were the most numerous of the wild animals of these woods at the date of the first settlement; though wolves, panthers, wild-cats, and other wild animals were by no means scarce. There were also great numbers of snakes of all kinds known to this climate and soil. These were especially plenty along the knobs, among the rocks; even yet rat- tlesnakes and other serpents are occasionally killed there. At that date, or just prior to the first settlement, buffalo and elk were numerous, especially the former. This animal then mi- grated from north to south at certain seasons, the same as it does to-day on the great prairies of the West. The buffaloes probably had ex- tensive feeding-grounds on the prairies of Ken- tucky and numerous crossing places along the Ohio. A herd of buffaloes in its migrations was not to be deterred by a river in its course. None of these animals were found in this imme- diate vicinity at the date of the first settlement, but one of their paths, deep and well-marked, led up the valley of Middle creek from the mouth of Falling run, showing that they habit- ually crossed the Ohio river at that point, near the narrows. The trail came up over what has ever since been known as "Buffalo ridge," and bore generally northwest.

TEMPORARY INDIAN CAMPS

for hunting purposes were known to exist in this township at different points on the little streams, but no Indians were permanently located within its borders, so far as is remem- bered. Moses Harper, one of the earliest set- tlers and yet living near Georgetown, remem- bers when it was considered necessary to gather

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the few families of the neighborhood into one of the stronger cabins, barricade the door, and otherwise prepare for a night attack from the savage foe. This was about the beginning of the War of 1812, when there was much alarm among the frontier settlers, they fearing a general Indian uprising. The settlers thus met for protec- tion every night, and separated every morning to their respective cabins. Mr. Harper remembers seeing the famous Sac chief Black Hawk, when in Louisville, on his way to Washington to trans- act some business with the Government relative to Indian affairs.

GREAT CHANGES

have been wrought in this as well as other town- ships of the county since those days, though they are not so far away but that the space of a man's life still connects them with the present age. Now there are finely cultivated farms where the forest once held full sway, and comfortable brick and frame dwellings have taken the places of the cabin and the wigwam of the savage. Here and there, however, the cabin still remains and is oc- cupied as a dwelling.

AREA.

There are in the township 9,732 acres of land, of which nearly two-thirds are yet in forest. There is still much good ship-building timber, as well as a plentiful supply for other purposes for many years to come.

FIRST WHITE SETTLEMENTS.

The early settlers of this township came largely from Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky, though a few were from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and different parts of New England.

Among those who settled in this township prior to 1812 were the following: Patrick and James Shields, Joseph and Levi Burton, Freder- ick and John Hanger, William Shaw, Philip Cook, William Smith, the Utz family, Jacob Yenawine, James and Jesse Hickman, Mr. Bur- kett, Philip Mosar, Philip Sisloff, David Sillings, John Barkshire, Daniel Keller, and probably a few others.

The following additional settlers were here as early as 1820: George Lidikay, John Flikner, William Sloan, John Rice, Michael Swartz, Joseph Moore, John Russell, John Tresenriter, the widow Harper, George Wolf, George Waltz, Milton Bufford, John Thomas, Abraham Engle-

man, Craven Flynn, George Foote, Jonathan Baird, David Tyler, John League, John Evans, George Zimmerman, Jacob Fisher, George Bay- ler, Mr. Fowler, John Sowers, and others. About twenty of the above families came from Augusta county, Virginia, between 1816 and 1820, constituting a second emigration and buy- ing out many of the first settlers, who moved on further West. Many of the earliest emigrants to this territory were merely hunters and squat- ters, a class of people always forming the advance guard of civilization. Many of them came here, built temporary brush or pole cabins, and some even substantial, permanent habitations. They cleared a little piece of ground for a "truck- patch," and remained a few years until the in- coming white settlers began to crowd out the game, when they "pulled up stakes," and retired with the game and the red man to the Far West. These were mostly squatters, with no intention of settling anywhere permanently. Many of the early settlers were, however, squatters, and came with the intention of permanent settlement, first squatting upon the land, building a cabin, and making permanent improvements with the inten- tion of entering and possessing the land at the first opportunity. Settlers who came in a little later could easily buy out the squatters, especi- ally if the latter were inclined to follow the life of a hunter and trapper; and the substantial cabin in the wilderness, with the little clearing around it, was a temptation to the emigrant, who, if he could purchase it, would thus be saved the great labor of iminediately building and clearing. Here was a place ready made to his hand, a shelter for his family, worth a little more than land in the unbroken forest; and though he might have entered this same piece of land at the land office and thus dispossessed the squatter, he generally preferred purchasing the claim and it afterward, thus saving trouble to both parties.

There is little doubt that Patrick Shields was · the first settler in this township, and probably the second settler in the county. A rather re- markable fact connected with this settlement is that the log cabin Mr. Shields erected when he settled here is yet standing and in fair condition, though erected in the spring of 1805, seventy- seven years ago. This cabin stands near and east of Georgetown village, on the road to New Albany, and near the bank of Whiskey run, or

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Burton's branch, as it was then called. The new railroad passes very near the old cabin. It is evident from this cabin that Patrick Shields was a man of considerable means, energy, and force of character, as it is a much better cabin than was generally erected in those days. It was built almost entirely of blue ash logs, and is nearly two full stories in height. The logs were hewn and the cabin in every way a superior one. Shields, in a short time, gathered about him a settlement of some size, and wielded consider- able influence among the settlers. His cabin, being the most commodious in the neighbor- hood, became the public house of the neighbor- hood, where religious and other general meetings were held. This building is one of the very few original cabins yet standing in this part of the State, and is now owned by Mr. T. Crandall. It has generally been occupied as a dwelling since it was built.

Patrick Shields went to the defense of the border when the Indians threatened a general massacre, and was a private in Harrison's army at the battle of Tippecanoe, where his horse re- ceived a bullet in the head, but lived to be brought home by his owner. Mr. Shields sub- sequently became a magistrate and associate judge, and in later years was known as Judge Shields. He was a man of good natural ability, a kind-hearted citizen, and a true friend.

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History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. II, Part 48

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co. Number of Pages: 680

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co.
Number of Pages: 680