USA > Ohio > Muskingum County > Zanesville > Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio > Part 42
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116
About the first year of the nineteenth century settlements in the township began ; Zanesville and Putnam were attracting settlers and on their way up the river the Chandlers settlement became known; some of the salt workers remained as settlers and among the names of residents at this early period are Nathaniel Eddy, William Newell, Sr., John Briggs, Stephen Reeve, Johnson Brew- ster, William Dixon, Abraham Mercer, George Clapper, David Peairs, Jacob Crumbaker, John Wilhelm, Robert Linn, Sr., Peter Sarchett, Thomas Brady, Abraham Warne and Joseph Culbertson, names which are preserved to the present day.
The first dwelling was the double log cabin of Captain Chandler, which stood near the later brick residence of Dr. Lenhart, at Chandlersville ; the floors were puncheon and the only nails used were in the doors and were forged by hand by the builder. The first wedding occurred in 1803, between Stephen Reeve and Mary Briggs and they were the parents of the first white child born in the township, the event occurring in August, 1805. Three years later the third wedding was solemnized between James Dixon, aged forty, and Ann Herring; when the groom's father was in- formed of the coming event he commented : "Suc- ceeded at last ! Jimmy has been fishing for a wife for forty years and caught a herring at last." The first death was the wife of Captain Chandler, in 181I.
The first corn and wheat mill in the township was erected by Captain Chandler, on Salt Creek, about 1807, the stones being quarried from the bed of the stream ; the mill was destroyed by fire about 1812 and was rebuilt by Llewellyn Howell and Silas Robinson ; some five years later Samuel McCune built a saw and grist mill on Big Salt creek. Zachary Chandler built the first tannery about 1810, and in 1814 William Scott erected a distillery, and while under the influence of his own product accidentally fired the building and was burned with it. About 1812 a small stock of goods, owned by Bernhard Brewster, inaugu- rated merchandising at Chandlersville, and his example was emulated by John Stevens and John Moore within a few years.
Travelers and transient visitors were dependent upon private families for shelter and refreshment. and in 1815 Zachary Chandler opened a tavern in a frame building ; about 1820, while the hostelry was conducted by a Mr. Cuberday, it was burned and Robert Linn engaged in the business at his residence. Captain Chandler was not a prac- tical blacksmith but he owned a forge and did work for his neighbors until the advent of Jerry Joseph, in 1810, whose monopoly of the trade was disputed by William Moore, in 1812. The pioneer physician was Daniel Bliss, who is men- tioned among the Distinguished Dead.
Captain Chandler occupied the relation, in the township, that John McIntire did at Zanesville, and when a village was laid out by John Stevens it was named in honor of its foremost, public spirited citizen; to his efforts the neighborhood was indebted for early postal facilities, which were secured in October, 1814, when he was ap- pointed postmaster ; the first mail was carried on horseback but as roads were opened and the quantity of mail increased wagons were employed, and July 1, 1880, the service was made daily from Zanesville.
227
PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.
The first school was taught 1812-13 in a log cabin, near Chandlersville, by Abigail Bingham and Nira Chandler; various teachers succeeded and the township is now divided into eight school districts ; Chandlersville has a two-room building valued at $2,000.00 and employs one male teacher in high school studies and one female in element- ary branches, the aggregate enumeration of the sub-districts being fifty boys and thirty-seven girls. The remainder of the township has seven one-room buildings, valued at $3,500 and employs two male and five female teachers, the enumer- ation being eighty-nine boys and eighty-four girls. The literary tastes of the community were at- tested in the first half of the late century by the organization of the Franklin Social Library, which accumulated a number of books, for the use of which a membership fee of $2.00 and annual dues of $1.00 were charged, but sufficient support was not received and the organization was discontinued.
CHURCHES.
A non-sectarian Sunday school was organized in a log house at Chandlersville, in 1812, and struggled with indifferent success until 1825, when a superintendent was chosen ; upon the com- pletion of the Presbyterian church, in 1834, it was sheltered in that edifice and although styled the Presbyterian Sunday school has not lost its non- sectarian character.
Salt Creek Baptist. September 14, 1811, ten persons organized the society, at the house of Daniel Horton ; the first church was a two-story, hewn log structure, with a balcony, upon the site of the present building; the Sunday school has been conducted many years.
Sugar Grove Methodist. The church at Mans- fork, or Sugar Grove, is the result of the class formed by Rev. James Watts, in 1812; in 1818 preaching was had at Eli Sherman's, two miles west of the present meeting house and the first building was a hewed log structure erected in 1829, which was succeeded by a frame in 1853-4.
Chandlersville Methodist. The class was formed in 1816 and in 1841 the church was erected.
Chandlersville Presbyterian. A society was formed in 1814 and in 1818 occasional preachers occupied a log house or held services in the groves ; the first church was a frame but in 1834 a brick church was constructed.
United Brethren. The society was organized in 1857-8 and the first place of assembly was the "Eight Square" school house, so called from its shape; the first pastor carried his opposition to secret societies so far as to oppose the Sons of Temperance, an organization which was very popular in the community, and his action made him extremely unpopular and his pastorate was
short, and injured his church organization. In 1866 land was donated the society about two and one-half miles from Chandlersville upon which a log meeting house was erected.
SOCIETIES.
Wakatomo Lodge, No. 321, I. O. O. F., was chartered May 14, 1857, and instituted July 3, the first officers being J. P. Safford, noble grand ; A. C. Kille, vice grand ; T. M. Crumbaker, secre- tary ; I. Brittan, treasurer, and F. S. Moorehead.
Chandlersville Division, No. 325, Sons of Temperance, was chartered in August, 1847, to J. C. Wolf, Peter LePage, T. S. Moore, R. C. Barton, H. S. Virden, C. Benjamin, Thomas Passmore, R. Marshall. M. D., Wm. D. Colvin and the society erected the building in which its assemblies were held.
Gage and Gavel Lodge, No. 448, F. and A. M. A dispensation was issued July 16, 1870, to George Smith, worshipful master; Mark R. Mc- Clelland, senior warden, and Henry Ludman, junior warden, to open a lodge at Chandlersville. and under this authority it was convened July 26, 1870. A charter was granted October 19, 1870, to M. R. McClelland, worshipful master; F. R. Moorehead, senior warden; Henry Ludman, junior warden, and Wm. Frazee, W. G. Hender- son, S. B. Reeder, Enos Smitley, O. H. P. Crum- baker, B. F. Richey, D. S. Sutton, S. J. Bliss, George Smith, G. R. Crumbaker, John Leedom, H. C. Smitley and Robert Linn.
I. C. Robinson Post, No. 651, G. A. R.
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP.
The commissioners' journal of March 7. 1809. reads: "A petition for the division of Newton township was allowed, the south part of said township as divided and recorded, to retain the name of Newton township, and the north part to be called Springfield township." The boundaries were defined: "Beginning at the mouth of the Licking river, on the south side; thence up said river to a point where it intersects the base or military line ; thence west along said line six miles from the place of beginning, thence south three and three-quarters miles : thence east six miles, south half a mile and cast one mile to the Muskin- gum river, thence up the Muskingum river to the place of beginning." This has been reduced some by the incorporation of Putnam and the annex- ation of Natchez, and the political boundaries now are : north by the city of Zanesville and Hopewell and Falls townships ; west by Hopewell and New- ton townships : south by Newton and Brush Creek townships ; cast by the Muskingum river and the city of Zanesville. The first election was hield at Burnham's tavern, Putnam, April 3. 1800, and
228
PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.
resulted in the choice of John Leavens and Jacob Dunn, overseers of the poor: John Miser, con- stable; Asher Hart, Isaac Van Horne, E. Buck- ingham, Wm. Organ, John Mathews, Harry Lear, supervisors ; Dr. Increase Mathews, treasurer.
The main water course through the township is called Jonathan's creek, the Indian name of which is Moxahala, and which should be used as more ancient and unique. The English name was bestowed by a party of Pennsylvania rangers who dressed and lived much like Indians on the war path, and who were pickets or a reconnoitering party to watch the Indians and destroy their vil- lage and corn fields. One of the party was Jonathan Morgan, brother of the commander, who became separated from the main body on the Scioto river, near Columbus, and was discovered on a rock at the mouth of Moxahala creek, and the command, not knowing that any other name was attached, called it Jonathan's creek. The im- pression that the stream was named after Jona- than Zane, or Return Jonathan Meigs, is erron- eous as the name was applied before either of the white men named were in the neighborhood.
David Stokely and Andrew Crooks were the pioneer settlers of the township, the former probably the first; early in the spring of 1799, Stokely squatted upon the site of Putnam, and built a cabin near Moxahala avenue and Jefferson street, cleared and prepared a field and planted corn ; when it had been harvested he returned to his former home and was married to Abigail Hurlbut; on the sixth succeeding day he and his bride were at the cabin, the journey having been made by her on their only horse and he walking by her side. It is related that her first at- tention was directed to grubbing the roots and stumps from the floor of the cabin ; a bed of rushes was erected in a corner, and with such primitive comforts and conveniences the couple passed their honeymoon. When the Putnam site was sold Stokely was unable to purchase his clearing but the proprietors gave him a three-year lease free in consideration of the labor he had expended, and he assisted George Mathews in marking and clearing the streets of the embryo village. In 1805 he moved to a location on Moxahala creek, where he died some forty years later.
Andrew Crooks settled also in 1799 but pos- sibly later in the year, on land back of South Zanesville, or Natchez, and in 1804 moved into what is now Newton township.
The first settler outside of Putnam was Adam France, in 1802, followed by John Springer in 1806, four miles west of town. Abner James, Dr. J. Rodman, Wm. Hibbs, John Fogle and Cornelius Kirk were immigrants between 1806-10.
In 1806 John Mathews erected a flour mill on Moxahala creek, half a mile from its mouth, and shortly after he had a saw mill in operation; in
1810 he started a distillery near his other mills, and built a number of houses for his workmen, the hamlet being called Moxahala. Jacob Reese built a hewed log house, in 1807, and in 1815 erected the first frame barn in the township; in 1820 he engaged in distilling whiskey on his farm. In 1807 Wm. Simmons burned the first kiln of brick on the north side of the Cooper- mill road, near the Fair Grounds. About 1820 Dr. Increase Mathews successfully raised fine wool sheep, and in 1843 introduced Durham and Hereford cattle.
In 1834 Thomas Wilbur started a stoneware pottery on the Cooper-mill road four miles from Putnam ; in 1827 Prosper Rice had a similar plant in operation one mile nearer town and later one Moatz was established two and one-half miles from Putnam. On the Flint Ridge road, J. Bodeen, one mile from Putnam; Samuel Havens, four miles and Joseph Bell five miles were soon after in the same line of manufacture.
February 23, 1833, the "Springfield Association for the Recovery of Stolen Horses and the De- tection of the Thief or Thieves" was organized ; specific regulations were adopted and the ex- penses of members when in pursuit of stolen ani- mals were borne by the association.
SCHOOLS.
The township is divided into seven school dis- tricts, with seven buildings containing ten rooms, and valued in the aggregate at $8,000.00; five male and five female teachers are employed, the enrollment being one hundred and seventy-three boys and one hundred and seventy-four girls.
CHURCHES.
McKendree Methodist Episcopal. A class of about fifteen persons was organized about 1815 and the first meetings were held in a log school house ; in 1842 a brick church, 40 by 60 feet, was erected four miles southwest of Putnam, with an acre of ground attached for cemetery purposes, the first interment being in 1828.
Springfield Chapel, Methodist Protestant. A class was organized in 1827 and meetings were held in a log house that had been the residence of Solomon Wylie; about 1835 a frame church, 30 by 40 feet, was built on land owned by Legget Gray but leased by Solomon Wylie, whose son humorously styled the building "Solomon's Tem- ple" because of his father's activity in the con- struction ; a Sunday school was organized and in 1855 a larger frame church, 40 by 60 feet, was built.
Meadow Farm, Methodist Protestant. A class of ten was formed in 1854 and a chapel built six miles southwest of Putnam, on land donated by
229
PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.
Rev. Cornelius Springer, publisher of the West- ern Recorder, and a Sunday school was soon after organized.
Methodist Episcopal meeting houses are erected at Fairview, in section nine, and Beachwood Park, in section thirteen, about which no information has been obtained.
SOCIETIES.
Camp No. 3974, Modern Woodmen of America, was chartered June 17, 1896, at South Zanesville, with thirteen members, and instituted by R. E. Cornelius, with C. U. Tipton, venerable consul ; Charles E. Keller, clerk; A. L. Jackson, M. D., physician ; September 14, 1896, the camp con- solidated with Camp No. 3224 at Zanesville.
UNION TOWNSHIP.
The date of the organization of the township is unknown as both the county and township records have been lost : the earliest county records are in 1808 and the township was then in full operation. The township is township one, range seven of the original survey of the United States Military Lands, and is bounded on the north by Highland township; west by Perry township; south by Salt Creek and Rich Hill townships, and on the east by Guernsey county.
The Indian was still in the neighborhood when the white man appeared ; quite a number were encamped upon Wills creek, and thev annoyed the settlers by petty thefts. Joseph Wilson and family visited a neighbor and remained over night; during their absence a party of Indians took possession of the house, ate or carried off his provisions, and slept in his beds which were left full of vermin. Disregarding such acts people condemn the white man for his cruelty to the red ; an experience similar to the foregoing would con- vince any man, with the Adam in him, that the dead Indian was the only good one.
A portion of what is now Union township had been reserved by the general government as school lands, and a number of persons squatted upon them, among whom were Henry Hardesty. Peter Monroe, Henry Hardy and Wm. Newland, but no accurate reference to the dates of their arrival can be obtained. The Zane trace was then the only opening or trail through the forest, and while it would permit the passage of a horseman only, settlements were made along it, but the names of only a few of these pioneers can be ascertained. Stewart Speer settled in 1801. four miles west of Cambridge, and after marriage opened a hotel which he operated until the Na- tional road was opened.
The earliest settlements were made in the neighborhood of New Concord, and that locality governed the settlements for several years, as ini-
migrants radiated from that central point. The pioneer family names are Reasoner, Speer, Find- ley and Wilson. The vicinity of Norwich was settled by Pennsylvanians, beginning about 1807; three Irishmen, Wm. Hunter, Robin Walker and A. Lorimer came together ; Lorimer taught school until his farm demanded all his attention. John Mckinney came about 1804 and located east of New Concord; Thomas Warren was the pioneer tavern keeper on the Zane trace near the center of the township, in 1804; Judge David Findley came in 1806 and became one of the leading men of the section. He was generous almost to a fault, and it is related that when a new comer came to him for corn and had the money to pay for it he refused to sell and sent the party to some one who needed the money, but if the party was with- out the coin the corn was sold on credit to be worked out, and many of such obligations were never paid. He raised so much corn he could not sell it and engaged in distilling whiskey as a means of using it; he had the first apple orchard in the section, and when the National road was surveyed through his place, spurred perhaps by the action at Norwich, he laid out the town of New Concord, March 24, 1828, with lots sixty- six feet front, and one hundred and ninety-eight feet deep : the main street was eighty feet wide and others forty-one feet, and all alleys one rod wide ; special inducements were made to settlers especially mechanics ; when the National road was opened the town became a relay station, and in 1849 James Findley made an addition to the town plat and in 1855 Irwin and Speer made additions.
Ralph Hardesty came in 1807 and the Self settlement was made about the same time, west of Norwich ; a relative of the Selfs, Martin Mc- Cloud, owned a farm through which the National road was surveyed and in disgust sold it. Nor- wich was laid out in 1827, prior to New Concord, by Wmn. Harper, an Englishman, and named in honor of his native town; the first house was erected by Samuel McCloud as a boarding house, and the first regular tavern was opened by Reu- ben Whitaker ; the first store was kept by Thomas Maxfield.
The first blacksmith was Wm. Speer, in 1804. who brought the iron in wagons from Pennsyl- vania : John Hadden, who came in 1807, es- tablished the first tannery and introduced Merino sheep in 1830: Benjamin Reasoner built the first saw mill in 1815 and in the same year Col. John Reynolds opened the first store in the township, at Locust Grove : in 1827 a saw mill was started at Norwich by Harper and Keitley, which was changed to a brewery by Holley and Son, and from that to a tannery, under the direction of James Caldwell. In 1830 a grist mill, with three run of buhrs, was started south of Norwich but was unprofitable; James Taggart introduced the
1
230
PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.
reaper : James Watson had the first peach orchard and in 1840 James Findley introduced Durham cattle. The first brick house in the township was built in 1827 by Peter Monroe and the first stone house by Ralph Hardesty in 1830 at Norwich. The first physician was Dr. Baldridge, in 1818; the first postoffice was on the Wheeling road and with Col. John Reynolds as postmaster ; when the route was changed to the National road the office was moved to Norwich, and in 1829 a postoffice was opened at New Concord.
SCHOOLS.
Among the first teachers was Nicholas Rea- soner, who wielded the birch near the old Zane trace, and the early schools were conducted in the same manner as in other townships; there was a strong sentiment, however, at an early day for a school in which more advanced branches could be pursued, and when the Pleasant Hill church was erected it was provided for by making the building two stories; no information concerning the details of the school have been obtained.
The public schools of the township are divided into two special and five regular districts : the Norwich graded school consists of a frame, 24 by 48 feet, containing two rooms, erected in 1874, and valued at $1,000.00, in which one male teacher in the "high" branches and one female in the ele- mentary, are employed, the enrollment being thirty-nine boys and forty-three girls. The New Concord graded school is a two-story four-room building, 40 by 70 feet, erected in 1878-9 at a cost of $8,000.00, and employs one male and two female elementary and one male high school teacher ; the enrollment is fifty-seven boys and the same number of girls. The township, outside the two special districts, consists, as stated, of five districts, each with a one-room building, valued in the aggregate at $4,500.00; three male and two female teachers are engaged for an enrollment of fifty-three boys and sixty-nine girls.
A meeting of the citizens of New Concord was held July 9, 1836, to consider the expediency of forming an academy to succeed the former one at Pleasant Hill ; August roth a constitution and by-laws were adopted, under which seven direct- ors were elected, and A. B. Black was chosen principal and the school was in operation in the fall. The enterprise must have been successful and encouraging from the beginning, as a petition was presented to Hon. David Chambers, who de- livered it to the General Assembly with a bill in- corporating the Muskingum College, which be- came a law March 13, 1837, with the following incorporators, who became the first board of di- rectors : Robert Wallace, Samuel Wilson, Daniel M. Lane. B. Waddle, Andrew Lorimer, John Jamison, John McKinney, John Hull and W. M.
Finley. During the first year the college occu- pied a rented building and May 10, 1838, land for college purposes was deeded and the first two- story brick building, forty feet square, was erected during the year at a cost of $2,479.00; this build- ing was almost entirely destroyed by fire March 4, 1851, but was immediately rebuilt and March 20, 1854, was opened to women; in 1874 an ad- dition was made which doubled the capacity of the institution, and July 6, 1877, the control of the college was tendered the presbyteries of the United Presbyterian church, which was accepted and August 28, 1877, the control passed.
CHURCHES AT NEW CONCORD.
Presbyterian Church. As early as 1804 re- ligious services were held at the home of John Reasoner and occasional services were held as ministers could be secured. John Wright, a mis- sionary in the employ of the Western Mission- ary Society, at Pittsburg, lived at Lancaster, and when passing stopped at Reasoners, when the word would be sent out and a meeting held ; cabins, barns and tents were used for such irregu- lar services and in 1818 a congregation was formed and about 1820 a two-story frame build- ing, forty feet square, was erected at Pleasant Hill, one mile south of New Concord. Rev. James Robinson took charge, taught an academy in one room and preached in the other ; in 1849 the congregation moved to New Concord and the name was changed to the New Concord Presby- terian church; a church was erected which was replaced, in 1872, by a new building at a cost of $4,000.00.
United Presbyterian. In 1812 a congregation was formed in Judge Findley's barn, as the As- sociate Reformed church, and its first meeting house was one mile southwest of New Concord, and known as the Crooked Creek church; in 1851 an Associate church was organized at New Concord and later the two organizations united to form the United Presbyterian church.
Reformed Presbyterian. This congregation was organized in June 1821 and services were held in the forest and other places, and was known as the Salt Creek church until 1871, when it was located at New Concord.
Baptist. Two men and nine women organized the Baptist church September 26, 1829, at Nor- wich, and the first church in that town was built in 1836; a frame church, 44 by 54 feet, was built at New Concord, at a cost of $2,500.00 and the congregation moved to that town.
Methodist Episcopal. A small class was or- ganized in 1836 and held its meetings in school houses until 1850, when services were held in the college, and in 1859 a frame church, 36 by 44 feet, was erected.
231
PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.
CHURCHES AT NORWICH.
Methodist Episcopal. A class of twenty-nine was organized at the house of Martin McCloud, in Perry township, and when he moved to Union in 1827 the meetings followed; 1829-30 a brick church, 30 by 40 feet, was erected and in 1842 was replaced by another brick, 40 by 60 feet.
Presbyterian. October 27, 1828, the congre- gation was formed largely from former members of the Pleasant Hill church, which was then with- out a pastor, and the first meetings were in a small frame, 25 by 35 feet; John Wykoff, who lived three miles in the country acted as sexton for several years until the congregation was able to pay for the service ; in 1839 a brick, 45 by 65 feet, was erected and was replaced, in 1852, by a frame structure.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.