USA > Ohio > History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. II > Part 58
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The bricks for the new church were made near the building by Patrick Byrns and Patrick Duffey, two zealous members of the church. A neat and comfortable parsonage was subsequently erected on the church lot, and an addition was built to this parsonage in the summer of 1881, costing about $800.
Father James Strembler is the present priest. The strength of the church is now about one hundred and forty families. The school con- nected with the church numbers about seventy- five children, with two teachers.
The scenery about this site is picturesque and beautiful. The traveler up the valley of the Little Indian will see the white cross of the church among the trees for a long distance. The rods skirts the foot of the knobs, which rise to a considerable eminence on the right, covered with a dense growth of timber, while to the left lie some of the best farming lands in the township. The church fronts the rugged knobs and the valley of the creek, while in its rear stretches away a vast expanse of na- tive woods, cut with deep, dark ravines, and
broken occasionally with small cleared patches and neat farm-houses.
A short distance below the church, running into the knobs, is a deep, cavernous-looking hollow known as "Wolfen hollow," where, in an early day, wolves congregated in great numbers to make night hideous, where many of them were trapped and killed in various ways, and where the hunters resorted when they wished to find them.
Many other places along the knobs have pe- culiar and special names, given to them by pe- culiar circumstances and surroundings. One, not far from the church, is known as "Nova Scotia," from the fact that the snow never melts from the place from the time it falls in the early winter until the spring is far advanced, often as late as May. It is simply a great bend in the hills, shaped like a horse-shoe, with the toes pointing to the north; and being surrounded and overspread with a heavy growth of timber, the sunlight is not able to reach it, and snow gener- ally occupies the hollow during about six months of the year.
Near the church is the residence of Joseph Campion, a liberal minded gentleman, who owns a large farm and a capacious farm house, which he opens to boarders and Catholic friends. It is a sort of Catholic summer resort. The house will accommodate forty to fifty people, and a number of residents of the cities of Louisville and New Albany often escape from the heat and dust of those cities and spend a few days or weeks at this quiet place in the great woods. The air is pure, dry, and bracing, and a few days' residence there is invigorating in an astonishing degree. There is a mineral spring upon the farm-the same spring beside which the Nugents settled-which is still known as Nugent's spring. The water has not been thoroughly tested, and its medicinal properties are as yet unknown. East of the spring a short distance in the woods, not far from A. Lipz's dwelling and about a mile east of Campion's house, is "the cave," quite an extensive subterranean opening, which has never been thoroughly explored, and may at some future day prove one of the chief attractions of the place.
The native forest comes up very near the front door of Mr. Campion's house, which stands far from the public road, upon a hill overlooking
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the valley of the Little Indian. The host is a genial, whole-souled Irishman, who came to the place six years ago from Louisville, where he is well and favorably known, having been employed for many years as United States mail agent be- tween the cities of Louisville and Cincinnati. He has in his possession a queer document, of which the following is a copy, and which, as the years go by, will become more and more a curi- osity, and interesting at all times, at least to those who are immediately concerned :
Know all men by these presents that I, James Alexander, administrator of Eliza Cochran, deceased, have this day sold to Joseph F. Campion for Eight hundred dollars, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, a Negro man named Abraham, about nineteen years of age. I warrant said man to be sound in body and mind, and a slave for life.
Witness my hand and seal this - day of January, 1852. JAMES C. ALEXANDER, administrator of Eliza Cochran, dec'd, with will annexed.
The above, it must be remembered, was exe- cuted in the State of Kentucky.
THE UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH.
The old Swedenborgian church, before men- tioned as having been established by Joseph Hay, was one of the earliest churches in the ter- ritory now embraced in this township. It was established, organized, the building erected, and the church generally sustained, by Mr. Hay and the colony that he brought with him from En- gland. This church, however, never a very strong one, weakened and died after the demise of its founder, and the old log church stood empty and decaying several years, used, however, occasionally for religious purposes and public meetings of various kinds. Ministers of any de- nomination who happened along, were allowed the use of the building for holding meetings.
In 1847, several members of the United Breth- ren church having removed into that neighbor- hood, a church was organized by John Adkins, a minister of the gospel, a farmer, and a son of one of the earliest settlers of the township.
For more than thirty years thereafter the old church served the purposes of the United Breth- ren; but in 1878 it was taken away, and the present building erected.
The original members of the society in this neighborhood were John, Henry, and William Adkins and their families, George Mitchell, and some others. Thomas Conner was their first
minister, and occupied the pulpit in 1847. John Adkins has been their leader and minister for many years, and the church is known as Adkins' chapel. The new church edifice, which stands on the site of the old one, is a neat, white, frame building, and cost about $1,000. Much of the labor upon it, however, was contributed by the people of the neighborhood.
The Sunday-school was organized in 1866, by Miss Ulissa Adkins, a daughter of the minister, and has continued in a flourishing condition ever since. Its meetings are regularly held, and the scholars number sixteen. The membership of the church is at present fifteen.
Henry Adkins came from Jefferson county, Kentucky, settling here in 1816. He was a sin- gle man, and married Nancy Chew, by whom he had eleven children, to wit : John, Preston, James, Emily, Aaron, Joseph, Amos, William, Sarah Ann, Margaret, and Henry. These are all dead but five, who are still residing in the township. William was killed at the battle of Guntown, Mississippi. Henry was also in the army, but came back safe at the close of the war. This township did its share toward putting down the great Rebellion, but the war history of the county appears elsewhere in this work.
Adkins's chapel is not a strong church, as has been seen, but it is live, active, and well-sus- tained.
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
Down the creek, about three miles below Ad- kins's chapel, stands a little, unpainted, desolate, deserted-looking frame building, known as the Bethel Presbyterian church. This church stands in the McCutchan neighborhood, where the first settlement in the township was made. Samuel McCutchan owned the land here, and gave the ground upon which the church stands. The McCutchan tract is now owned by George Scott.
The Big Indian branches near this church, and the settlers for some distance up and down the creeks, come here to public meetings, to vote, and to attend church, though no regular preach- ing is maintained at present.
The originators of this organization were the McCutchans, John Mackles, Gideon Adkins and wife, Joseph Minchell and wife, and some others. These were the earliest members, and but few of them are now living in the neighbor- hood. The present building was put up about
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
thirty years ago. The Rev. Mr. Stewart was the first minister, and occupied the pulpit for many years. A Sabbath-school was maintained for a number of years, but for some time past has not been kept up. Indeed, it would seem that the neighborhood has not advanced much of late in a religious point of view, but has retrograded. The old church has not been occupied for sev- eral years, except by an occasional itinerant minister; the moss is growing over the steps, . the weeds are taking possession of the grave- yard that surrounds the building; the creek winds about in front of it, the woods straggle around it, and the surroundings impress the mind with general decay and dilapidation.
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
This church is located near the village of Mooresville and was established by Rev. John E. Noyes, being organized in the old brick school- house that stood on a lot given by James Moore for school purposes. The first ministers of the Gospel through this region were Methodists and United Brethren, the Rev. Mr. Elkenhaunch representing the former, and the Rev. Mr. Bone- brake the latter. The old brick school-house was used for religious purposes, and was the only church in the neighborhood for many years. The
Methodists and United Brethren both organized societies here; but they long since disappeared under the preaching of Rev. Mr. Noyes, who or- ganized a Christian church on their ruins. For- ty or fifty members joined the society at its or- ganization, and it has continued a flourishing church. The Rev. Lemuel Martin afterwards preached for this congregation many years. The church edifice which stands upon the hill on the turnpike west of the village, is brick, and was erected in 1859. Walter Moore made the brick for this church. A Sunday-school is regularly sustained, and the membership of the church is about one hundred.
THE ADVENT CHURCH.
The only remaining church in this township is the Advent, located about a mile south of Scotts- ville. It is a neat frame, painted, and was built about ten years ago. The original members were Robert Scott, Thomas Ferrell, James Brock, Richard Thompson, Mahala Adkins, and their families. Robert Scott is the leader. He was instrumental in establishing the church, and preached for the congregation many years. The Rev. Messrs. Morris Little and George Green were also among the ministers. There is no reg- ular preaching at present.
TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES OF CLARK COUNTY.
CHAPTER XVIII. BETHLEHEM TOWNSHIP.
ORGANIZATION AND DESCRIPTION.
Lying in the extreme northeastern corner of Clark county, wholly outside the famous Grant, is Bethlehem township. It was organized in the spring of 1816, being one of the four townships which were formed by the county commission- ers of that year. Its boundaries are somewhat different now from what they were then, as many, perhaps, as fifteen hundred acres of the original township now lying within the township of Owen. The first boundary lines ran as fol- low:
Commencing on the Ohio at the upper line of the Grant, and running out with said line until it strikes Little Bull creek; thence up said creek to the head thereof; thence with the dividing ridge between Fourteen Mile creek and Camp creek until it strikes the upper line of the county, and thence with said line to the Ohio river; which boundaries will com- pose one township, to be known by the name of Bethlehem.
Like Washington township, it derived its name from a village which had been laid out within it before there was a separate organization and township lines were fixed definitely. That vil- lage was Bethlehem, platted in 1812, and situ- ated on the Ohio river. The township is bounded on the north by Jefferson county; on the east by the Ohio; on the south by the Ohio river, Owen, and Washington townships.
Bethlehem has some of the most remarkable features of any similar division of land in the State. The climate is all that a mild and equa- ble atmosphere could make it. Heavy dews are almost unknown, while fogs are uncommon, even in that part farthest from the Ohio. People are generally healthy.
The country in the interior, a short distance from the river, is an alluvium flat, which soon changes to fine, rolling lands. That the underlying or outcropping rocks, in a very great measure, determine the nature of the soil, is plainly seen in
Floyd and Clark counties, where there are extensive out- crops of so many different formations, each giving rise to a characteristic soil. In the northeastern part of the county of Clark are the rich but narrow bottoms of Camp creek, lead- ing to the large but very fertile " Bethlehem bottom " on the Ohio river. These soils were enriched in ages past, and are destined to be for all time to come, by the weathering of the fossil corals and shell-beds of the Cincinnati group, which rocks, in this region, are from one to two hundred feet thick, and capped by magnesian limestone beds one hundred feet thick. These lands will ever remain productive, as they are continually enriched by the disintegration of the rocks above. The soil is a dark loam, partaking of the shade of the lime- stones.
The streams running into the Ohio [in Bethlehem town- ship] are tortuous in their course and diminutive in size, their fountain-heads being only two or three miles from the river, and they have worn their way with difficulty through the rocks. The inclination of the strata is to the southwest, carrying the drainage a few miles west of the Ohio river into the headwaters of Fourteen Mile creek. The dip of the strata in this region is to the southwest, at the rate of about twenty feet to the mile. In places along the Ohio river the rocks show in magnificent cliffs some two or three hundred feet high. From the northeastern corner of the county the river flows along the line of strike in a southerly direction until it reaches a point near Utica, where it is abruptly deflected to the west, and runs nearly with the dip of the strata as far as New Albany, where it is again deflected to the south .*
Little creek, one of the branches of Camp creek, heads in the extreme north line of the township, and flows in a southerly course through the center of the tract. Knob creek empties in- to the Ohio a short distance above Bethlehem village. It is a short stream, and has a rapid current as it comes out of the bluffs. Camp creek skirts the township on the west, and near its mouth forms the boundary line between Owen and Bethlehem.
Along the margin of the streams and on the bluffs the timber consists of beech, white oak, buckeye, poplar and black walnut. Camp creek and Fourteen-mile creek are noted localities for
*Professor William W. Borden, in State Geological Re- port for 1873.
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
buckeye trees, many of which measure from three to four feet in diameter, and attain a height of fifty feet or more to the first limbs.
On the high lands above the creek bottoms there was, in the earliest times, a thick growth of bushes. As the settlers worked their way into the interior of the township, many of these sap- lings were used for various purposes, but usually for hoop-poles, of which thousands were shipped to Louisville and the Ohio Falls cities. The rich alluvium soil was peculiarly adapted to the growth of briars, bushes, and undergrowth; but it was the upland which grew the thriftiest small hickories.
ROADS.
The village of Bethlehem had been laid out several years before it had any regularly estab- lished highway connection with the towns up and down the river. The Ohio river was the great outlet, and served a hundred purposes which are to-day almost unknown. Madison, which lies some twenty-five miles up the river, was of more commercial importance to the nrst settlers of Bethlehem township than either Charlestown or Jeffersonville. This resulted mainly because the roads which led to it were decidedly better than those to the latter towns, and because it was some larger and more active during its early history than the towns in the southern part of the county. Consequently, as early as 1818, a road was established, leading to Madison from Bethlehem, which was the first in the township. It ran over the best and highest land between the two places, following the river. As it approaches the village of Bethlehem, an interesting picture presents itself. The road begins its descent to the bottom, from a bluff of perhaps two hundred feet above low-water mark. The productive bottoms lie stretched out at ease, proud of their unwritten history, except from what we learn in geology. 'The river goes crawl- ing off lazily, while the steamboat and other craft occasionally remind you that civilization is near at hand. Soon after Charlestown and New Washington were laid out, roads were made con- necting with these places. That to the former place follows down the bottom until it passes Camp creek. Here it crosses a substantial iron bridge, and ascends a hill about a quarter of a mile in length, and so steep that only very light loads can be hauled up it. Camp creek is three
miles south of Bethlehem village. It enters the Ohio between immense hills, with rocky ledges devoid ot all vegetation, from whose sides flow constant springs of water. A half-dozen houses and a district school stand in the narrow bottom. The road leading to New Washington and into the interior of the township follows up Camp creek at this point, soon ascending the high hills out of the creek bed, over which it passes in many places. It is located on the north side of the stream. The Madison road forks near the county line; or rather there are cross-roads go- Ing from the river to New Washington, and from Bethlehem village to Madison. Roads in this township are among the best, if not the very best, of any in the county. This is owing to its excellent drainage and its underlying limestone foundation.
FERRIES.
When the township was organized in 1816, Westport, which lay across the river in Kentucky, was one of the most enterprising ferries in Clark county. Eight years before It was the only regu- larly established ferry in the township. A Mr. Sullivan was in charge of it. In 1811, one year before the village of Bethlehem was laid out, a ferry was established at this place, which has continued ever since, but with varying degrees of success. In 1812, one mile below Bethlehem, Aaron Hoagland kept a ferry. These three fer- ries include those used first by early emigrants. When people began to settle more rapidly along the river it was often found very convenient to have a family ferry, or one used by the neighbor- hood generally. From these wants many ferries have come and gone. The Indian has taken his departure too, with his narrow canoe, which often darted down the Ohio with the lightness of a feather.
MILLS.
While the first ferry was in operation, in 1808, Jacob Giltner erected a horse-mill on the north- west corner of section six. Here he worked on his farm and ground corn, buckwheat, and what- ever else the scattering farmers desired. In 1820 he put up a saw-mill near where Otto post- office now is. This mill was used by Mr. Gilt- ner and his sons till 1848, when his son George and Samuel C. Consley took possession of it, and carried on the business for a few years. Since this time it has passed through several changes,
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
and is now owned and run by Mr. Samuel Stansbury. The old horse-mill has long since passed away. Peter Mikesell's horse-mill, which stood near the old Antioch church, was erected about the year 1828. For many years it ground all the grains of the country, and it was not until 1844 or 1845 that it entirely ceased to run. Few of its beams and sills are now remaining. Levi Ogle's water-mill, which stood on one of the branches of Camp creek, was there in 1835, and probably some time before.
Bethlehem township has no favorable mill sites. Her streams are small and have either tortuous or rapid currents. The Hatsell mill, on Camp creek, which is just on the border of the township, grinds most of the flour and meal for farmers in the western part of Bethlehem, while Jefferson county and Owen township mills divide almost equally the trade in the northern and southern half.
STILL-HOUSES.
It seems that distilleries were as necessary to the early settlers as mills. Joseph Jones was among those who began the manufacture of whiskey in this township. Jacob Giltner, also, in connection with his horse-mill, ran a small still. George Sage, an early settler, made whisky and brandy. David Glass, immediately onthe hill above Bethlehem village and close to the Ohio river, more than forty years ago carried on distilling. It was at this still-house that the first blackberry brandy in the county was manufactured more than thirty-five years ago. Blackberries were plenti- ful that year, and this fact induced the distillers to make the experiment. The result was entirely satisfactory, and since that this time has been a leading industry with many small farmers in the township.
Still-houses in the township, like those in all others of the county, were numerous and varied. Many of them were short-lived, while some pros- pered, and returned handsome dividends to the proprietor.
POTTERY.
During the early times there were potteries in several portions of the township. They were begun by Mr. Samuel Youkın, in Bethlehem vil- lage; and after their success was assured, many of the farmers and tradesmen in the surrounding country engaged in the same business. The old Youkin pottery was transported to a Mr. Deitz,
who ran it for some time, and later sold it to a Mr. Suttles. Both these gentlemen made the business a success. The old establishment is now used for other purposes. Isaac Brownslow engaged in the pottery business about forty years ago, in the northwest corner of the township. The business and fixtures were sold to Mr. John Giltner finally, who did considerable work. In 1840 there was another established at Otto by Mr. Eli Giltner. All have succumbed to time and the changes which modern civilization neces- sarily brings.
THE PIONEER STOCKADE.
There was never more than one well timed effort made to secure protection against the In- dians in Bethlehem township. The people of the surrounding country assembled and erected, shortly after the Pigeon Roost massacre, a stock- ade on the high land overlooking the Ohio river, on Robert Simington's place. The house was made of logs, and around it were placed small posts set in the ground so as to act as a complete barrier. In these posts, or rather between two of them, holes were cut, through which the men could shoot. When the massacre took place it gave great alarm to the people of the country, and many of them were not long in crossing the Ohio into Kentucky. Much of the excitement was created by flying rumors. After a few weeks the people returned, and as time went by natur- ally settled down again to hard work and money making.
MOUNDS.
On the old Simington place are two or three mounds which belong to an extinct race. They were pronounced by Professor Cox as belonging to the age of the Mound Builders. The larger one is about twenty-five feet one way and forty feet the other, on its base. Its height is from five to six feet. The site is well adapted for a view of the Ohio river in both directions. Also, on the old Bowman place, are four or five other mounds, from eight to ten feet in diameter and about half the distance in height. Two miles below Bethlehem, on the old Thomas Stephens place and one mile from the river, are more mounds. They all serve to awaken thoughts of prehistoric races, and to remind us that other people traversed these valleys long before we en- croached upon the rights of the red man.
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
SCHOOLS.
During the pioneer age schools were imper- fectly managed, and school-houses were rude affairs. But a few years elapsed after the town- ship was organized before people began to look after their educational interests. Schools were generally the forerunners of churches, at least in the case at hand. Before the Antioch church had been thought of, a school was carried on near where the church now stands. The house was 16 x 18 feet, and had a door which swung to the outside- a very rare thing, even in those back- woods days. Cyrus Crosby was the first teacher. After him came Thomas J. Glover; Dr. Solomon Davis, who now resides in Lexington; Rev. Ben- jamin Davis, a local Methodist preacher; and perhaps a few others. In 1832 Mr. Martin Stucker taught in a new hewed-log house. Then came Charles Smith, of New York State; Sam- uel C. Jones, of Kentucky, but at this time a citizen of the county, and who had been here as one of the very earliest teachers. Joel M. Smith came soon after Jones; he was a native of New York, but came with his father's family when a boy and settled near Charlestown. Thomas S. Simington taught in 1839 and 1840, and it was during his term that the old school-house burned down. Very soon thereafter another building was put up, in which Mr. George Mat- thews acted as teacher. After the new school law came into force a new district was created, and another building erected in a different place.
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