USA > Ohio > Muskingum County > Zanesville > Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio > Part 39
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The first public cemetery was east of where the canal was located and when that improvement was constructed the bodies were exhumed and re- interred in the present cemetery, which is owned by the town and was laid out in 1829. The third wire suspension bridge in the United States was erected across the Muskingum river at Dresden. in 1852; the structure is one thousand feet in length, cost $30,000.00 and was made of material manufactured at Dresden.
SCHOOLS.
The first school house was a log structure in the rear of where was, in later years, erected the
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Central Hotel, and was opened in 1822, with a male teacher named Timberlake; he was a heavy whiskey drinker and frequently fell asleep dur- ing school hours; the pupils were alive to the op- portunities of the occasion and practiced all sorts of mischievousness, at one time removing his shoes and stockings. The next teacher was Abraham Smith, who opened the second tavern in the town, in which the school was kept and his wife conducted a millinery store. In 1828-9 a brick school house was built on a mound in the present cemetery, and in 1845-6 a second school house was erected on the site of the present one. The existing equipment of Dresden or Jefferson township is a two-story brick building, contain- ing nine rooms and valued at $16,300.00, in which seven female teachers, in elementary grades, and two male, in high school, are employed; the en- rollment is one hundred and sixty-two boys and one hundred and thirty-one girls.
In Cass township Rev. Joseph W. Pigman preached on Sundays, in 1808, and during the week serve as justice of the peace and taught school, in a cabin two and one-half miles west of Dresden ; and in 1816 Sanford Ramey taught a school in the country districts. In the present township the Trinway special district has one building of four rooms, valued at $9,000.00, and employs two female elementary and one male high school teacher, the enrollment being fifty-eight boys and fifty-three girls. In the remainder of the township there are five districts, each with a one-room building, of an aggregate value of $4,000.00, and employing two male and three fe- male teachers, the enrollment being eighty-three boys and sixty-four girls.
DRESDEN CHURCHES.
Presbyterian. The congregation was formed in 1819 in a log school house one mile south of Adams' Mill, with seven or eight members; the first elder was Joseph F. Monroe and services were held every third Sunday, the minister coming from Irville. In 1825 service was first held at Dresden, occasionally in private houses but usually in a log school house on the site of the Union school building, and upon the completion of the brick school house, in 1829. it was occupied as a church ; the minister's wife organized a female prayer meeting, and a Sunday school and conducted the latter at the parsonage, as the only teacher. The first effort to erect a church was made in 1833 but nothing was ac- complished until May 14, 1836, when Laban Lem- ert, G. W. Cass, Wm. W. Brice, T. M. Barrow and Dr. A. H. Brown were appointed a building committee and in the latter part of the year a brick church was commenced, and completed in the spring of 1838, at a cost of $1,500.00. In
1842 a choir was organized and July 4, 1850, the ladies of the church served a dinner, and sum- moned the residents by ringing, for the first time, a bell which had been placed upon the church; a short time after it was tolled half a day, on the occasion of the death of President Zachary Taylor. In May. 1852, a pipe organ was pro- cured. The present handsome brick edifice, in Chestnut street was completed at a cost of $5.500.00 and dedicated February 29, 1880, being the fifth Sunday in that month.
Methodist Episcopal. A brick church was erected in Main street, in 1835, but all records antedating that event have been lost; a Sunday school was organized in 1838 and in 1852 the original building was replaced by a more sub- stantial and commodious brick at a cost of $3,000.00.
German Methodist Episcopal. The congrega- tion was organized in 1852 with twenty-four members, and services were held in the Market house until a frame church was built, in 1858, at a cost of $600.00, with a seating capacity of 125.
Zion Protestant Episcopal. The congregation was formed in 1839, with Rev. Cushman, rector ; Wm. Evans, senior warden; Benjamin Adams, junior warden ; a Sunday school was organized with the inception of the church and both as- sembled in the old market house, adjoining the Methodist Episcopal church, where they remained until the present church was built, in 1848. at a cost of $3.500.00. In 1855-6 a brick parsonage was erected at an expense of $3.500.00.
Baptist. The first meetings were held in the old Market house, in 1840, and were continued there until a frame church was erected in 1845- 6, at a cost of $500.00. In 1880 a brick church, 36 by 78 feet, was built on the site of the frame, at a cost of $4,000.00. The Sunday school was organized about 1848 and has continued, without interruption, and the prosperity of the church has been attributed to the efficiency of this adjunct.
Roman Catholic. In 1843 a congregation was organized by Father Gallinger, who held monthly services at the residence of G. A. Peffer ; in 1847 a frame church was built at a cost of $600.00 and in 1890 a brick church was erected; a Sunday school is now maintained and the congregation is served by a priest from St. Nicholas church, at Zanesville.
German Lutheran. In 1848 a congregation was formed in the old Market house and in 1853 a brick church was erected in High street, with a seating capacity of 200, at a cost of $2,000.00. There has been no pastor since 1879 and the building has been unoccupied for many years.
Christian, or Disciples of Christ. The congre- gation was organized in 1861 and for about one year met in the Lutheran church untl the com- pletion of a substantial brick edifice, which cost
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$2,000.00. A Sunday school was established at the organization and at one time possessed a li- brary of considerable dimensions but has been lost by improper distribution.
RURAL CHURCHES.
In 1808, Rev. Joseph W. Pigman, Methodist Episcopal, preached at the residence of Wm. Blount, three and one-half miles west of Dres- den, and in the same year Amos Weeks and Wm. Spencer, itinerant Baptists, were conducting re- ligious services in the neighborhood.
The first church at Preston was built in 1836. Liberty Chapel, Christian. About 1840 James Ogle donated the use of some ground, three miles south of Dresden, for the erection of Liberty Chapel, of the Christian denomination, upon which a building was erected by means of con- tributions from members of various denomina- tions, upon condition that the house should be free to all users without expense for the room; in 1863 it had ceased to be used and the owner moved and converted it into a stable.
Hopper's Grove, Methodist Episcopal. About 1840 Benjamin Hopper deeded one acre of ground, three miles west of Dresden, for a church and graveyard, and about 1855 a neat frame was built in a grove upon the tract ; the land passed to another owner who discovered that the church society had not recorded the deed and he sold the building to a man who removed and con- verted it into a stable.
SOCIETIES.
Dresden Lodge, No. 103, F. & A. M., was opened in 1837 by authority of a dispensation granted to Thomas Powell, worshipful master ; Thomas Launder, senior warden, and Andrew Walker, junior warden, as Friendship Lodge, at Dresden ; and a charter was granted as No. 103, June 20, 1838. Dissensions arose and October 17, 1839, the Grand Lodge enjoined it from further labor until harmony was restored, and April 14, 1840, D. W. Rhodes, of Zanesville, acting deputy grand master, gave his sanction for resumption. In accordance with a resolution of the Grand Lodge, of October 21, 1852, to avoid the con- fusion resulting from a duplication of names of lodges and which permitted the oldest to retain the original name, the lodge at Dresden lost its chartered designation and took that of the town.
Dresden Chapter, No. 145, Royal Arch Ma- sons, was chartered September 22, 1881.
Wakatomaka Lodge, No. 186, T. O. O. F., is carried on the register of the Grand Lodge as chartered July 17, 1851 ; members assert that the lodge was formed in 1847-8 with Alex. Culbert- son, B. F. Lemert, Alfred Barrow, Elon Jones and E. Granger, and on account of dissensions respecting the management of the lodges' finances the original charter was surrendered.
Lovinia Rebecca Lodge, No. 413, was char- tered July 22, 1895.
Cass Post, No. 415, G. A. R., has an organiza- tion which, like all other similar bodies, is di- minishing as the "boys" answer the last roll call.
Camp No. 10,097, Modern Woodmen of America, was chartered October 1, 1901, and was instituted October 5th by J. B. Kipe, with twelve beneficial and one social member ; the first officers were : H. H. Bainter, M. D., venerable consul and physician; L. R. Schumacher, worthy advisor ; Thomas Miles, clerk; L. B. Blake, eminent banker; F. Sandel, escort ; Charles Lacey, watch- man; C. W. Carter, sentry ; H. Cox, Benjamin Lacey and F. Marshall, managers.
FINANCIAL.
L. J. Lemert established a bank of discount and deposit in 1852 and conducted it alone until 1873 when his sons were given an interest and the style of the firm was changed to L. J. Lemert and Sons. G. Eaton established a bank in 1866, with a capital of $25,000.00. The present financial institutions are : Dresden Banking Company, F. W. Gasche, cashier; First National Bank, C. S. Littick, cashier; Dresden National Bank, John Hornung, cashier; Dresden Building and Loan Association.
LICKING TOWNSHIP.
As has been previously stated the early records of the commissioners are missing and the official entry of the organization of Licking township cannot be found, but it is alleged that the or- ganization occurred prior to 1806; it is one of the original townships of the survey of the United States' military lands, is five miles square and is bounded on the north by Jackson township; east by Muskingum township; south by Hopewell and Falls townships ; and west by Licking county.
David Devore is mentioned as the first settler in 1802, but it is more probable that he was a trapper, as he was settled in Muskingum town- ship, and although he had a cabin on the site of Irville it was occupied in common with John Thrapp. The earliest actual settler appears to have been Col. Nathan Fleming, who built a cabin on the site of Irville in 1805, and in 1815 was operating a saw mill; in 1825. he opened a store at Irville with a good stock of goods. John R. Roger, Jacob Victor, Leonard Stump. Solomon and Jonathan Wood became settlers in 1807: Stump built a saw mill in 1820; Jonathan Wood was a surveyor, and in 1812 built the first hewed log house as an addition to his round log house, and opened hotel ; he died in 1824 from rupture caused by lifting a heavy bag of wheat.
Henry Barrackman and David Vandenbark set- tled in 1808; the latter had an orchard of peach trees in 1812, and erected the first stone dwelling
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in the township; it is related that he deeded a forty-acre tract of land to Rev. Prescott Smith on condition that he would preach to Vandenbark and family during their lives, but the reverend gentleman was called to a more remunerative field, and accepted, and the grantor was obliged to "search the scriptures" for himself and family, as the congregation soon disbanded. John Van Voorhis settled in 1811 and in the succeeding year his son, Daniel, planted half a bushel of peach stones from the Vandenbark orchard; Mr. Van- Voorhis built the first brick residence in 1817 from brick burned on his own land. David De- vore operated a mill in April, 1814, and in the following year John Sidle erected a saw mill and corn-cracker grist mill, the bolting being done by hand. In 1818 Stephen White engaged in tanning: Elmas Wheaton began the practice of medicine, and Jared Brush opened a small store at Irville. In the same year Elias Green began blacksmithing and later in the year E. Birkholter fired his forge and made a specialty of axes, in the manufacture of which he was an expert.
Irville was laid out in 1815 by John Irvine and Richard Ayers, both tavern keepers, who were desirous "to draw people together for so- ciability," and in 1818 a postoffice was established. Nashport was laid out in 1827, on forty acres, and named for Captain Thomas Nash, and when the Ohio canal was completed through the town- ship, in 1830, trade at Nashport was materially improved.
SCHOOLS.
The first school was opened in 1814-16, north of Nashport, in the conventional round log cabin, with slab seats and desks, mammoth fire place and oiled paper windows; 1835-6 a hewed log house was constructed at Nashport by private contri- butions. The township is now divided into five school districts with five houses containing eight rooms, valued in the aggregate at $12,000.00, and employing four male and three female teachers in the elementary branches, and one male in the high school, the enrollment being one hundred and four boys and eighty-two girls.
CHURCIIES.
Irville Methodist Episcopal. A class of fifteen members was formed in 1812; Jonathan Wood donated a site and most of the lumber for a frame structure which was built in 1816, and when a new church, costing $1,200.00, was built in 1847, the original was moved and converted into a cabinet shop; about 1823 a Sunday school was organized in the church as a union school, but about two years later it was attached to the church.
Irville Presbyterian. In 1815 a frame church, 30 by 40 feet, was built for a congregation of this
society, but the soil was not productive and the church as an organization was disbanded. When the Methodist Protestant society was formed it occupied the building temporarily, and later it be- came the meeting place of the Sons of Temper- ance: when that society disbanded it was em- ployed as a carpenter shop and in 1862 it was destroyed by fire.
Irville Methodst Protestant church was or- ganized 1829-30, in the Presbyterian edifice, and in 1842 a church building of its own was erected at a cost of $1,500.00, and in 1843 a Sunday school was formed.
The Irville cemetery, of one acre, was donated by Daniel Fleming.
Macedonia Methodist Episcopal church was built in 1835, about three miles south of Irville but was abandoned in 1880 as the congregation had moved to another township.
Highland Methodist Episcopal church was a small hewed log structure erected in 1840, two and one-half miles north of Irville, which was vacated about 1876.
Nashport Methodist Episcopal church records have been destroyed for the early years and definite details cannot be secured; the origin is placed in 1844-47, in a log school house then on a lot adjoining the present church. In 1854 a subscription was started for a new building to be deeded to the Methodist Episcopal congrega- tion, which was to have the use of the structure one-half of the time and the remainder to be at the service of other religious organizations, but when not so used by others to be at the service of the Methodist Episcopal congregation. It was stipulated that protracted meetings were not to be interrupted notwithstanding that the allotment of time might be exceeded, or that others might be excluded during the period. The Masonic Lodge at Irville subscribed $275.00 and the ad- ditional subscriptions aggregating $671.50 were obtained, and a structure, 36 by 45 feet, was erected at a cost of $1,000.00, the lot being do- nated by Thomas Nash ; in 1855 a Sunday school was organized.
SOCIETIES.
Irville Lodge, No. 184, F. & A. M. A dispen- sation was issued December 10, 1849. to Thomas Edwards, worshipful master ; Abner Wood, senior warden ; Wm. Munhall, junior warden, to open Union Lodge at Irville, and a charter was issued October 16, 1850, to the same officers and A. T. Claypool, A. Ball, R. A. Walters, David Sherrard, Wm. Barrick, J. W. Hollister, J. K. Palmer, Jacob Molter and James Moore as members. Oc- tober 20, 1852, the lodge was authorized to move to Nashport, and December, 1853, the name was changed to Irville, by a committee of the Grand Lodge, in accordance with a resolution of that
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body, October 21, 1852, to dispense with dupli- cation of names, the lodge having taken no action to select one for itself.
Nashport Division, No. 24, Sons of Temper- ance, was instituted November 24, 1870, with thirty-four charter members, and was disbanded in 1878. A division of the order existed pre- viously at Irville, and later a lodge of Good Templars was formed but no information about them can be secured.
Durban Lodge, No. 487, I. O. O. F., was in- stituted at Nashport, January 24, 1871, with D. M. Thompson, noble grand; S. J. Perry, vice grand; M. H. Bennett, secretary; H. Cooper, treasurer, and G. W. Perry, George Varner and D. Eichler. Center Star Rebecca Lodge, No. 455, was instituted November 18, 1896.
MADISON TOWNSHIP
is named in honor of President Madison, and was taken from Jefferson township; the commission- ers' journal of July 2, 1819, designated the re- duced limits of Jefferson township and defined the boundaries of Madison which were the same as at present, except that it embraced the western half of what is now Adams township. Its present boundaries are : North by Coshocton county and the Muskingum river ; east by Adams and Salem townships ; south by Washington township, and west by the river. The first election was held at the residence of Martin Wheelen, July 31, 1819. and subsequent ones were held principally in the school house, on Wm. Minner's land until 1848 when a township house, 18 by 24 feet, was built.
The pioneer settlers were nomadic; Jacob Swigert settled on the bottom lands of the Mus- kingum, built a cabin and cleared a field, in 1800, but within the ensuing year he sold to J. S. Cop- land and he to John Bainter; Wyllys Silliman entered a quarter section on Symmes' creek and sold to James Sprague, a Canadian, in 1802; Valentine Shriver and John Stoner located in 1804, and George Adams, a Virginian, built the first hewed log house in the township, and be- came a settler, in 1808, and some years later made a frame addition to the log residence, and had the first frame house in the township. Charles Cop- land settled near the mouth of Symmes' creek, in 1817, and built the first brick house. The first marriage was George Stoner and Elizabeth Shirer, in 1810, and the first death was of Godfrey Bain- ter, in 1805, who was buried in the woods, and the site became a cemetery and the oldest in the township.
In 1807 James Sprague and his son, Samuel, were canoing up the Muskingum and saw an Indian encampment a short distance below the mouth of Wills creek; upon going ashore an Indian offered to show him a salt spring for
$1.400.00, which proposition was promptly de- clined, and soon after the wily savage disclosed his secret to Wm. Maples for a rifle, and the pro- prietor was one of the few who found the manu- facture of salt a profitable business; the works were operated by several owners until 1865. About 1812 a distillery was in operation below the mouth of Wakatomaka. Alexander Struthers built a grist mill on the south branch of Symmes' creek, above the forks, in 1813, and in 1818 added a saw mill, and the business was continued by various owners until 1866. Valentine Shirer and his brother David erected a saw mill in the forks of Symmes' creek, in 1833. Thomas Pierce erected a grist mill at the dam at Symmes' creek, in 1837, and the distinction of opening the first store in the township lies between him and Cop- land and Parmall, about 1840, both having begun about the same time.
In 1818 Abraham Wood and Elias Ebert built a blast furnace half a mile from the mouth of Symmes' creek, and made pig iron which found a ready market at Zanesville, but lack of capital compelled the suspension of the enterprise in 1822 ; the first blacksmith was Daniel Milton, who located at the furnace. In 1869 Wm. Minner opened a pottery at the fork of Symmes' creek and in 1879 Jacob S. King and John T. Swope established one on the Dresden road one mile north of Symmes' creek.
SCHOOLS.
The first school was opened on the land of Alexander Struthers, near the forks of Symmes creek ; at first it was conducted in German, and the first teacher in English was one Decker, in 18II. At present there are six school districts in the township, each of which has a one-room school house, the aggregate value of which is $3,000.00 ; four male and two female teachers are employed, the enumeration being one hundred and twenty-four boys and ninety-eight girls.
CHURCHES.
Methodist Episcopal. The first church in the township was known as the Wheelen church, so named for the donor of the site; the first class was organized about 1820 and consisted of eleven members of the Wheelen family and thirteen others. The first meetings were held in Struthers' school house, and in 1823 a hewn log meeting house, 24 by 36 feet, was built ; a partition was erected in the building and the tardy or indiffer- ent members were classed as sinners and were not admitted to the inner room where the love feasts were held. The room assigned to the sinners be- came too limited sooner than the one for the saints, and the partition was removed, and not
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moved, and salvation was freer than before. A prominent itinerant of the period, who often preached to the congregation, once complained that the support given him at Zanesville was in- sufficient to furnish him money to pay tolls on the turnpike, and the "sinners" of the Wheelen church made up a purse of $100.00 for him. Of another supply of this congregation, who had more than the usual ministerial appetite for fowl, it is reported that he once declared "a turkey is a very unhandy fowl; it is too much for one and not enough for two." The Wheelen church be- came dormant about 1830.
Methodist Protestant. About 1831 Rev. Gil- breath formed a class from former members of the Wheelen church, with Leonard Hurdle as leader, and held meetings at John Walker's house until 1838, when a log church, 24 by 36 feet, was erected on land donated by Hurdle. In June, 1861, John Stoner deeded a lot for a new church and in 1862 a frame, 34 by 40 feet, was built and is known as the Prospect church.
Salem. Rev. Wm. Marshall organized a class of sixteen members in 1834, with John Mahan as leader, as a Methodist Protestant congregation. In 1838 a hewed log church, 24 by 36 feet, was built one mile southeast from the mouth of Symmes' creek, on land donated by John Brice, and about 1868 a frame, 34 by 42 feet, was built.
Pleasant Hill, Methodist Protestant church. In 1835 Judge Daniel Stillwell, a Presbyterian, built a church on his land, for the use of his fellow believers, but to be free to any denomination when not wanted by the Presbyterians. In 1868 Rev. Wm. Baldwin organized a class of fifteen as ad- herents of the Methodist Protestant church, with Samuel Hammond as leader, and occupied the building.
St. Matthews' Protestant Episcopal church. The first services were held in the Presbyterian church at Pleasant Hill, in October, 1837, and were conducted by Rev. W. A. Smallwood, of Zanesville. A meeting was held at the home of John C. Stockton, October 22, 1838, and St. Matthews' parish was formed with twenty-four members, and the following official organization : John C. Stockton, senior warden ; Thomas Arm- strong, junior warden; Royal Humphreys, Charles Long, Christopher Burnside and Robert Armstrong, vestrymen. At a meeting of the vestry, April 21, 1839, a site for a church was selected on land donated by Evan James, and June 15, 1839, the committee contracted for the erection of a frame church, 27 by 40 feet, for $900.00, and August 4, 1839, the corner stone was laid by Rev. Smallwood. In 1840 Christopher Armstrong donated the parish one hundred acres of land. About 1900 the church was replaced by a Gothic structure in rough rubble masonry to the square, the gables being finished in concrete, and
is one of the most ornamental architectural cre- ations in the county ; it has a seating capacity of one hundred and fifty ; the chancel windows are of stained glass and the side windows of cathedral glass.
Otterbein chapel, United Brethren. A class of eight persons was formed in 1848 and preaching was conducted in a school house; in 1861 Zach- ariah Adams donated one acre of ground to trustees and in 1864 a frame church building, 25 by 32 feet, was erected.
MEIGS TOWNSHIP
as now formed is a complete Congressional town- ship, six miles square, and bounded north by Rich Hill township; east by Noble county ; south by Morgan county and west by Blue Rock township, and named in honor of Governor Return Jonathan Meigs. The commissioners' journal of July 13, 1819, records that "A petition was presented to the commissioners praying a division of Rich Hill township. The commissioners therefore erected the twelfth original surveyed township in the eleventh range to be a separate township to be called Meigs township. The qualified electors to meet at the house of Zoath Hammond, on the last Saturday of the present month to choose township officers." Of the officers then chosen the only record extant is John Hammond and Llewellyn Pierce, justices of the peace, and Jacob Wortman, clerk.
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