USA > Ohio > Knox County > Past and present of Knox County, Ohio, Vol. I > Part 30
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VILLAGE OF PALMYRA.
For many years Palmyra was the only town in this township. It was platted in 1835. Before that a tavern had been located there, also a post- office and a grocery store. Finally when the railroad came through the county, its doom was sealed.
VILLAGE OF ANKENYTOWN.
The original owner of the land where Ankenytown now stands was Aaron Bull, a Revolutionary soldier, who located lands with his warrant
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received for his services in that war. Sylvester Clark was one of the earliest settlers there. He married Bull's daughter and came on to occupy the wild lands in company with his father-in-law. The mill already mentioned was the germinating factor of the village and when the railroad was constructed through, an elevator was erected by Warner Miller, who also put in a gen- eral store, with H. W. Gregor in charge of both. George Ankenytown came on from Pennsylvania about that time and bought a small piece of land of Abram Leedy, and built a blacksmith shop on it. Ankenytown was named for him, he being an excellent man and enterprising citizen. Mr. Broller, who had purchased the Shaler Mills, also put in a stock of goods about 1840. He failed and was succeeded by J. M. Robinson, who sold to H. W. Gregor about 1851.
When the railroad went through some of the near-by farmers' cattle were run over and killed. The farmers gathered together and tore up the track and this ended in a big suit at the county seat. They believed that the thing might happen frequently and as they had no stock to spare thought they might save them in this manner.
The population of Berlin township in 1830 was 520; in 1840 it was 1,100; in 1850, 1,155; in 1860, 1,200; 1870, it had 887 ; in 1910 it had only 700, having fallen off at both the census periods after 1870.
The church, lodge and school history of the township will be found in their respective chapters in this volume.
A postoffice known as Shaler's Mills was established in the forties or early in the fifties, which was at Shaler's mills, near the present village of Ankenytown. From 1876 the postmasters have been H. McGregor, who had held the office in connection with his country store for very many years ; then came John Hartshorn, G. A. Welker. J. R. Beal, A. P. Berger and the present postmaster, J. R. Beal. One mail each way is received daily. The business of this office amounts to about two hundred and twelve dollars annually. In September, 1910, the office was robbed of considerable, the same being made good to the postmaster one year later. The office was kept in Mr. Beal's store, as it is yet ; the same store was robbed June 27, 19II, but the effects of the postoffice not materially disturbed. Ankenytown has two good general stores. There are also a blacksmith shop and grain eleva- tor. The dealers are J. R. Beal, general merchandise, who established the business in 1879, and W. H. Leedy, who came in 1903. The elevator was erected in 1906, burned and was rebuilt in 1907 by Saylor Bros. C. S. Swank was the first in the grain business here. Wilson Browning is the village blacksmith. The only church within the village is that of the Breth- ren, who erected a church in 1882. Another of the same denomination, prac- tically, is found a short distance out of the village, but in Berlin township.
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CHAPTER XXIV.
CLAY TOWNSHIP.
Clay township is situated on the south county line, west from Jackson, south of Harrison and east from Morgan townships. Martinsburg is lo- cated within Clay township. It derived its short name from that illustrious political character, Henry Clay, the great Whig standard bearer. It was organized as a separate township in the spring of 1825, being organized properly on March 9th of that year from a part of Morgan township.
The township is of an uneven surface, except in the northern portion where it is level, even and fertile prairie land. A branch of the Wakatomika crosses the northeastern portion of the township, and Big run the north- western part. Paul's run, in the southern part, runs from east to west. Originally, this township was heavily timbered, with oak and hickory pre- dominating. While the settlers have cut away much of the forest, there still remains enough for home use. In the northern part of this township several large mounds exist, the largest covering about two acres. When discovered it was entirely covered by a heavy growth of timber. Of later years Charles Murray owned the land about this mound. These are sup- posed to be the same as elsewhere described in this volume, and were the work of a prehistoric race of people.
Probably Levi Harrod was the first settler in this township. He came from Greene county, Pennsylvania, to Knox county in 1808, first settling in Clinton township, near Mt. Vernon. He belonged to seven families who located in this county at that date. These were all related by marriage or otherwise and comprised the colony made up of the Leonards, Haines, Mills, Knights, Peter Baxter and the Harrods. Levi Harrod removed to Clay township before the war of 1812. When he came in this township was noth- ing more than a wilderness and was literally teeming with wild animals. Upon the land he entered he frequently found elk horns and buffalo skulls.
Stephen Cook, another pioneer in this section of Knox county, came from Pennsylvania. He first settled in Morgan township in 1814. He moved from one place to another and really cleared up three farms from the dense forests of Knox county. He died in Clay township in 1870. He :vas an elder in the Presbyterian church many years. He believed in prayer, and
(20)
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this meant the practical sort of petitions, as may be inferred by the follow- ing which it is related he prayed for :
"Having no pasture fields cleared, his horses, cattle and sheep ran in the woods, with bells upon their necks. Once one of these bells was lost, and there being no store nearer than Mt. Vernon, he was very anxious to find it. As he was going through the wilderness to a neighbor's one day. he was heard to pray earnestly that he might be directed to find the lost bell, and suddenly his foot caught the mouth of the bell. He always contended that was the direct result of his prayer."
Cornelius Barkalow, a native of Virginia, came with his father to Knox county in 1804. After living in Licking county until 1812, the family removed to Knox county, settling in Clay township, on section 15. At that time there were but few neighbors within the township. Wild animals and Indian bands were seen on almost every hand about him. Young Barka- low's playmates were Indian girls and boys. He was still residing in Clay township in the eighties, an honored old man.
John McWilliams came to the township in 1818, from Belmont county. He was born in Ohio county, Virginia, in 1798. He first settled on gov- ernment land near Martinsburg, where he carried on farming half a century. He was a member of the Presbyterian church fifty years and a deacon for forty-one years.
Ezekiel Boggs, who died in 1853, was another old settler in Clay. He came from Belmont county, Ohio, and served as a member of the Ohio Legislature. His son, Coleman, was a successful teacher.
Ziba Leonard accompanied his father from Greene county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1804. The father settled in Clinton township, this county. He at- tended the first funeral in the county, and was present at the first wedding. a double one. the marriage being that of his two sisters. Mr. Leonard was a good house carpenter and built many of the residences in and near Mar- tinsburg. Politically, he was a Whig, later a Republican and still later went over to the Prohibition party. He came to Clay township in 1831 and was long an honored and devoted member of the Presbyterian church.
James Cook came to the township in 1817 and was prominent in the affairs of the Presbyterian church more than half a century.
In 1881 the oldest person in Clay township was James Sims, born in Maryland in 1792 and settled in Clay township in 1835 ..
Other pioneers who helped to develop this goodly township were Abner Brown, Jacob Smith, David Harrison, James Pitney, John Huston, James Paul, Abraham Day. James Larason, Nathan Veach, Samuel Porterfield. Robert Dillon, Michael Mills. John Culp. Luther Brown, Samuel Ross, James
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Hayes, William Henry, James Carr, John Williams, John Reagh, Jonathan Curtis, Aaron Conger, Philemon Pierson.
This township is unfortunate in being situated where it was too rough and hilly to procure systems of railroads. Also the streams were too small to propel mills of any considerable size. Outside of the village of Martins- burg there never were any mills. The whole territory was devoted to agri- culture and stock raising.
The population of the township of Clay in 1910 was 838, including Martinsburg, which had about 250 people when this census was taken.
MARTINSBURG VILLAGE.
This is the only platted place within Clay township and dates its his- tory from 1828, before which time it was called Williamsburg and Hanover, the street dividing the place into two villages. In 1828 a consolidation was effected and the name Martinsburg given to it. James Pollock erected the first building in the village. I. D. Johnson, who opened the first store, came in from Richland county in 1818. As the country settled up his business grew immensely, until it was said at one time no other store in Knox county sur- passed his at Martinsburg. He bought large quantities of wool, pork and tobacco, carted the same to Newark and then shipped from that city to the Eastern markets. He was a liberal member of the Presbyterian church and died several years after he moved from the village.
The Beckwith Brothers opened a general store about 1824, and con- tinued to do a thriving business many years. Solomon Cook conducted the pioneer hotel of Martinsburg. A horse-power mill was put in operation at a very early day in Martinsburg. Enos Beckwith was the man who saw the immediate need of this milling industry and did what he could to help the farmers round about. The next mill was operated by steam power, built by Slocum Bunker. The first village blacksmith was O. Drake.
In 1880 the federal census gave Martinsburg about three hundred popu- lation. At that date the business factors of the place included two stores, conducted by Cline and Tilton Brothers ; a hotel, by Isaac Simpson ; a harness shop, by James Snyder, and a meat shop, by Conn Simpson and Hugh Boyd ; four blacksmiths, a tailor shop and three doctors, Drs. Miser, Toland and Shrauntz. The postmistress was Miss Hettie Kerr.
The history of the educational and religious element will be found un- der headings of churches and schools in this volume.
Several destructive fires have occurred at Martinsburg, one in 1850, another in 1854. In both cases business blocks were consumed, and the
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village never resumed its normal condition. The business is no greater than it was seventy years ago. The village was incorporated in the seventies.
A small portion of the village of Bladensburg is within Clay township, but its history will appear in the history of that township, hence is omitted in this chapter.
The postoffice at Martinsburg is a fourth-class office, located in Tilton block, second door west of the public square. It was established when the town was laid out and called Hanover, then Williamsburg. It is claimed by pioneers' children that it is among the oldest in Knox county, as mail was received here a few years after the first settlement was effected. Dr. Hervey's institution of learning was founded here in 1808, and there was a postoffice then. Back in the forties and fifties mail was received by a horseback car- rier, once a week from Columbus. Among those who kept this office are the following: Wesley Spratt, 1846, in the east end of the present Devoe house : Judge McCreary, 1854, in a log building where now stands the Pres- byterian parsonage: William McWilliams, on what is now the park; Judge McCreary, the second time; Alexander Kerr, Miss Hester Kerr. Mrs. E. E. Kerr. John W. Tilton, October. 1909. in the Tilton dry goods store ; Ella B. Honnold, May, 1910. to the present time. The office has been in the hands of the Kerr family for over forty years. It is now on a star route from Utica, established fifty years ago. June 15, 1905, one rural route was estab- lished from this office. One mail is received each morning from Bladensburg and one from Utica in the after part of each day.
The business of Martinsburg, in October, 1911, was in the hands of the following persons: Mrs. C. A. Tilton, leading dry goods store; Messrs. Laughlin & Berger, dry goods and groceries; Harry Dean and J. M. Han- cock each conduct a hardware business ; Miss Jennie Dean, millinery ; J. M. Hancock, meat shop: Frank Kearns, tin shop; William McMillen, carpenter shop; S. B. Dodd, saw and flouring mill: T. L. Humphrey and Frank Me- gaw, blacksmiths.
An agricultural experimental station is located on the farm of S. B. Dodd, a fourth of a mile from the village.
A. B. Deal is a nurseryman and gardener. The village has a public library and the Clay township building is within Martinsburg. The Odd Fellows have their own hall and the village council another meeting hall. The hotel is now conducted by Mr. Darling. This concludes the list, aside from a small restaurant by William Farmer.
The churches of Martinsburg are the Presbyterian, Methodist Episco- pal, Baptist and Disciples.
The physicians of the village are Drs. John F. Shrontz, William E. Shrontz and N. S. Toland.
CHAPTER XXV.
CLINTON TOWNSHIP.
Clinton is one of the four original townships in Knox county. The county commissioners, it will be remembered, cut the county into four civil townships May 2, 1808, when they ordered the following :
"That the following bounds be laid off into a separate township: Be- ginning at the northwest corner of Wayne township; thence east to the west side of the eleventh range; thence south to the center of the township; thence west to the west line of the twelfth range; thence south to the south line of the county, which shall be called by the name of Clinton."
As thus constituted, the township embraced Bloomfield (now in Mor- row county ), Liberty, the north half of Pleasant, Monroe, Pike and the south half of Morris townships. After many changes, on March 9, 1825, the commissioners ordered: "That Clinton township shall be composed of the sixth township in the thirteenth range."
This gives the domain about twenty-five square miles, which territory is watered and well drained by the Owl creek and its numerous small tribu- taries.
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
Andrew Craig, who was the first settler of Knox county, was of course the first to locate within Clinton township. He came from the mountain regions of Old Virginia. He was a bold, rough frontiersman. He was a hunter of note and fond of wild sports and would rather live near the Indian trail than among white people. He located on Owl creek in probably about 1801-2, not later certainly. When Benjamin and John Butler were exploring this county in 1801, they found this rugged man living with a woman he had brought from Wheeling. He liked Indian life and was a friend of the Dela- wares. They were having a pow-wow when the Butler brothers came to the Little Indian Fields. This home of the first settler was a half mile to the east of present Mt. Vernon. But he could not endure the white race and their lawful usages, so in 1809 he moved to Greentown to be among the Indian people.
Henry Haines, of the Pennsylvania colony, came to Knox county in 1803 or 1804, locating in the Ten-Mile Settlement. He was among the best
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men in the county in those times. He was born in Washington county, Penn- sylvania : was a man of education and property. He also had great mechani- cal ingenuity and had a turning lathe which he used in fashioning many a domestic article. He was appointed the first county treasurer (under the ap- pointive system), holding the office up to 1815. He became deranged on the subject of religion, an account of which will be found at another place in this chapter.
Robert Thompson. from Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, ascended the waters of Owl creek in 1804, and chose for his abiding place a point two miles west of the present public square in Mt. Vernon. He was a land sur- veyor and in July, 1805, was employed by Butler, Patterson & Walker to survey out the new town of Mt. Vernon. He spent the greater part of his life on his farm, and his bones, with those of his excellent wife, now repose on a little knoll east of the old homestead.
Moses Craig, who married a daughter of Robert Thompson, came in at the same time Thompson settled here.
Peter Baxter was one of the original settlers in the Haines settlement, and was a member of the first jury impaneled in Knox county. This was the jury that convicted William Hedrick, who was publicly whipped for stealing.
Isaac Bennett came to Clinton township in 1805, locating north, on the old Delaware road, and built there the first brick house in the township. Later it was occupied by Albert Sharp.
In 1805 the Leonard family arrived and the last will and testament of William Leonard was the first recorded in Knox county.
Matthew Merritt, from Washington county, Pennsylvania, came in 1806. He was the foreman for the first grand jury in the county, and in 1808 was elected county commissioner of the county. He also served as a justice of the peace in 1809.
The Beams, Lafevers and Walkers were early comers, but their history will be given in the city chapter on Mt. Vernon, which is within Clinton township.
Ebenezer and Abner Brown came in from Pennsylvania in 1804, locat- ing in the Haines settlement and built the first grist mill in Knox county, treated at length elsewhere.
Outside of the city limits, Clinton township had a population of nine hundred and twenty-six in 1880. Its 1910 enumeration shows its population to be two thousand one hundred twelve.
For various interesting historic points of this township, including county- seat contest, the reader is referred to other chapters.
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KNOX COUNTY, OHIO.
CLINTON TOWNSHIP TRAGEDIES.
Among the revolting crimes of an earlier day in Clinton township the following have been vouched for by those who are in a position to know the principal facts :
On the point of the bluff between Center run and Owl creek, in 1800, was enacted a tragedy worth recording in these county annals, the same end- ing, as it did, in the killing of two persons, one a white man and the other a mulatto slave. Two slaves had escaped from their master, one Tomlinson, who lived in Virginia, and, coming into this state, took up with the squaws. Their masters tracked them through Zanesville and up the Owl creek, finally spotted them at the first settler's house, that of Andy Craig. One of the boys, a mulatto, recognized his master's son, as he approached with two other men, and sprang to the bank of the creek and threw himself into the stream. He was followed by his pursuers, who overtook him in the middle of the stream, and there a deadly struggle took place, in which he killed his young master, but was then overpowered, taken to the hut, tied, and shortly afterwards placed on the horse his young master had ridden, and the party started for Virginia with him. The second night after leaving Craig's place, they built a fire and left the mulatto tied by it, when they went out for game. On their return he was found to have been shot. It was believed that they had become tired of him, and as he was surly and troublesome, he was killed out of re- venge for the loss of young Tomlinson. The slave who made his escape was, years later, found in Upper Sandusky, living with a squaw, and he verified the above statement, so far as he was knowing to the facts.
RELIGIOUSLY INSANE.
This was the case of Henry Haines, former treasurer of Knox county (the first by appointment ), and who stood high in the walks of life. He was a leading member in the Christian church, then styled "New Lights." He became a loud exhorter and, being deranged, secured a large tin horn and rode around day and nights, notifying the people to prepare for the judgment day, which was soon to come. This he proclaimed when sane and insane. When he became ungovernable he was taken to Dr. R. D. Moore, who con- fined him in straight jacket (mad-shirt), and treated him for several weeks, until he seemed restored to reason ; but he said if ever he became insane again he would kill Dr. Moore. Soon the doctor moved to Fayette county, Penn- sylvania. Haines again became deranged, and was missed by his friends and relations. The first they heard of him was through a communication from
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Dr. Moore. Haines had made his way to Connellsville, Pennsylvania, for the purpose of killing Dr. Moore, and had stolen the family silverware to pay his way. Upon his arrival at the Doctor's city. he had again become quite ra- tional, but told the Doctor his former intentions. The Doctor cared for him a few days, or possibly weeks, then provided means for him to go home. In the summer of 1817 the tin horn had ceased to be heard on the streets of Mt. Vernon for several nights. Haines had left home once more. Word was brought to town that Haines was missing, and fears were entertained that he had made way with himself. He was searched for all day Sunday and it was not until late in the afternoon that he was discovered suspended by the neck from the limb of a tree a quarter of a mile from his residence on the Merritt farm. Thus ended the poor man's troubles.
AN INDIAN MURDER.
The publication at Mt. Vernon, known as the Ohio Register, dated May 7. 1817, had the following concerning an Indian murder in Clinton township: "Some day last week a small party of Indians, principally of the Mo- hawk tribe. arrived in this place for the purpose of trading off their cran- berries, etc., to the white people. They encamped on the west side of Owl creek, and remained there in apparent harmony until Friday last, when that arch enemy of the civilized and savage (whisky) made its appearance among them. It appears that two of the Indians having become rather 'cockoosey.' began scuffling with each other through diversion, when a third (more in- toxicated than the others) interfered, fell upon Jim Wyandott, who took the rough salutations of his adversary in good part until it became too severe, when he informed him that they two had only been diverting themselves; but the murderer, disregarding the protestations of the deceased, fell upon him with greater fury, armed with a tomahawk, scalping knife and club, and finally succeeded in killing Wyandott by giving him a blow in the breast with his club. It appears that Wyandott, when he found that forbearance had ceased to be a virtue, made a strong resistance-but in vain! The murderer belongs to the Delaware tribe, and we are informed that this is the second homicide he has committed. He decamped the next morning.
"We cannot here omit to mention that a gentleman of this town, with a humane generosity which does him much honor, presented the friends of the deceased Indian with a good coffin for their red brother."
CHAPTER XXVI.
COLLEGE TOWNSHIP.
In some ways College township is a peculiar sub-division of Knox county. It includes the northeast quarter of what was originally Pleasant township, contains four thousand acres, was owned by William Hogg, of Pennsylvania, and sold to Bishop Chase of the Episcopal church and then turned over to that society and Kenyon College was located thereon. Ten years later the tract of land was set off by the Ohio state Legislature as a separate township to be known as "College," and this exists today.
Originally this land was a dense forest. The spot where now stands the magnificent buildings of Kenyon College was somewhat open, owing to wind storms that passed over that portion of the township. Much of the history of this township is included in the chapter written especially on the college, by President Peirce.
The fertile valley lands here have been under a good state of cultivation since the war of 1812-14, the first settlers being known as "squatters." They really owned no land or much other property, but lived by hunting, fishing and tilling a small clearing in the forests. As late as 1829 but a small portion of the land-that in the bottoms-had been touched by the plowshare of true civilized life. From the hilltop to the east line of the township all was one dense forest of sugar maple, hickory and black walnut timber. Near a large spring, at a very early date, was located a distillery. This was to the north- east of present Milner Hall of the famous Kenyon College buildings. There were no roads, but paths and trails that had been blazed through the timber. every one of which led to this distillery. Such was the condition of affairs `in this township in the days when Bishop Chase purchased the lands. In 1830 things had so changed that the still-house was used for a wash house for the students of the college. This good man was a strong temperance advocate when it took sand to be outspoken, but he discarded every vestige of the liquor business from his college tract.
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