USA > Ohio > Fairfield County > Pioneer period and pioneer people of Fairfield County, Ohio > Part 10
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In the Reber district, south of Royalton, one of the old fashioned Irishmen referred to previously, was bar-
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red out. He came to the school house and demanded entrance. The reply was. treat and you can come in. Faith and I will, but it will be meself, he replied, and wended his way to Royalton and began to get quite tipsy. This was kept up for a day or two. On one oc- casion he climbed to the roof and placed a board over the chimney in order to smoke the boys out. A few of the parents who were near got upon the roof, took the old fellow by the heels, swung him clear of the building and threatened to drop him to the ground if he did not agree to treat.
This was one of the crude things peculiar to pio- neer times-what was fun to them would be called rough and vulgar now.
One of the greatest features of the old-time schools was the spelling match, one school against another, or the half of one school against the other half. These matches created great excitement and filled the houses. There were numerous scholars in a township who could spell every word in Webster's American spelling book.
The father of James Buchanan, of Basil, was one of the oldest teachers of this county, and a worthy man. The father of Thomas Pugh was a well known teacher and brought up two of his sons to the same profession.
Isaac Kerns, more recently a commissioner of this county, was a teacher for many years.
All have passed to the great beyond and many of them have been forgotten. Would that the names of all could be rescued from oblivion and placed upon a tablet of enduring bronze, that the children of this and succeeding generations might at least read the names of those who in times past taught the young idea of their forefathers how to shoot.
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The Centennial History gives a very full account of Lancaster teachers.
The schools of pioneer days were not numerous. Previous to 1830, when our common school system was adopted by the Ohio legislature, all schools depended upon private subscription. A teacher was selected and employed and the parents of each scholar paid his or their proportion of the expense. Parents too poor to pay tuition had to be content with such instruction as they could give their children at home, and in most cases this was very limited.
In this day of good schools and thorough teach- ing it is a mistake to suppose that the early schools, few as they were, were without merit and ability on the part of the teachers.
Thomas Ewing bears wholesome and worthy tes- timony to the ability and scholarship of his first teach- er in those early days-an Irishman whom he grateful- ly remembered.
There were many teachers in Ohio and Fairfield County in the early days who came from Ireland or were sons of Irish parents. They were good teachers and good scholars-especially were they good in grammar and mathematics. But unfortunately, many of them were intemperate and rather dissolute in their habits ; often bachelors who tramped from one neigh- borhood to another-and like the old minstrel immor- talized by Walter Scott, welcome wherever they hap- pened to stop or tarry to teach a school. An Irish- man named Welsh was an early teacher of this class and he was a great favorite.
One of the first men to teach school in this county was John Goldthwait. The school was in the Mc- Cleery district in Greenfield township. Goldthwait
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came from Massachusetts, having been born in the city of Springfield. He came to this county from Athens, where he had taught in the year 1801. He died near New Salem in the year 1829. He was a good man and upon his modest tombstone is inscribed his hope of immortality. He was a lover of fruit and the people of Fairfield County owe him a debt of gratitude on that score. He established a nursery and brought from Marietta the scions of Golden Pip- pen, Newtown Pippin, Seek-no-Farther, Rhode Island Greening, Roxbury Russet, American Golden Russet or Pearmain and that rare apple, the Vanderver. He planted the first orchard in the county on the old Levering farm near the camp ground.
Peter McMullen was one of the early teachers, a very successful one and a good scholar.
New England, Maryland, New York and Virginia gave to Fairfield County several teachers of the class referred to.
John T. Brasee and Salmon Shaw were able teach- ers, but better educated than the class referred to.
James Allen, of Maryland, came to this country at a very early day and settled in Walnut township. He was a good common school teacher, and beloved and re- membered by his pupils.
Simon Ortman was another old-time teacher. He also came to Walnut township from Maryland.
Josiah Smith came from Connecticut and for sev- eral years taught school. Late in life he was a promi- nent citizen of Hardin County.
Father Monroe was a good teacher of the early period of the common schools. He came from New England. One of his last schools was taught in Bre- mmen.
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A man named Brent taught school for years in the neighborhood of Pleasantville. He came from Win- chester, Va. A brother of his was cashier of the Bank of the Valley of Virginia. Brent was dissipated, but withal a good teacher.
Dr. Simon Hyde was one of the early teachers and the best scholar at that time in the county. He came from Connecticut.
Father Bryan, long a resident of Pleasantville, was an Irishman, a fair scholar and a good teacher. He was the grandfather of Dr. Gilliam, the eminent surgeon of Columbus, and great-grandfather of Attor- ney Gilliam of this city.
We had one old-time teacher who was on his last legs when he came to the county. He was competent, but dissipated. He was tolerated, but in time could not procure a regular school. He opened one on his own account for boys. On one occasion he had a spell- ing class on the floor and he remarked, "Boys, I am going to pronounce a word (of course the word was such as to excite their risibilities) and if any of you laugh I will whip you like h -. " Of course they all laughed immoderately, but no one was whipped, for the teacher joined in the merriment. Doubtless there are men still living who attended his school.
A witty Irishman, named Skenmore, taught school in Berne township in the year 1813, and was called a very good teacher. John May and a Mr. J. Addison had previously taught there. This was in the Carpenter or Koontz district.
Henry Camp taught a German school in Pleas- ant township and Abraham Winters taught one in English, both prior to 1810.
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John Griffith and John Grantham taught school in the Murphy district prior to 1830, and as early as 1824, in Walnut township. Richard Clarke was one of the early teachers of Madison township.
The late John Crook states that John Addison taught in the Koontz, or Prindle district in the year 1809. He was a good natured man and was liked by his scholars. A Mr. Burrows and Hocking H. Hunter afterwards taught in the same district, and in later years a beloved brother of the writer, long since dead, William Wirt Wiseman.
Warren Case and his sister, Sarah, taught school in Royalton as early as 1810, and Henry Calhoun in 1812.
In addition to James Allen, previously mentioned, Jesse Smith, was a very prominent early teacher in Walnut township. A. Cole and W. H. Coley were early teachers in Hocking township.
Bartholomew Foley and Thomas Paden were teachers in 1828, in the Koontz school house in Berne township. Paden was afterwards a merchant in New Salem. He married a Miss Frey, of Rushcreek town- ship.
James Hunter, uncle of the late Andrew Hunter, was an early teacher in Hocking township and was one of the first to teach a school in Lancaster.
A Mr. Watsbaugh and a Mr. Irvin were very early teachers in Pleasant township, near the Trimble farm. Eli Ashbrook, of Illinois, in his young days was a good teacher in Pleasant.
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Thomas MeGee, Thomas Moore and John Young were early teachers in the Barr district, Amanda town- ship, also John Cunningham.
Moses Stutson and Solomon Grover were early teachers in the Landis district of Madison township.
Samuel Shaw was an old-time teacher of Liberty township. He was a giant and when bad boys fell into his hands they trembled. Many teachers were cowed and compelled to give up their schools. Not so with Samuel Shaw. He was a match for the stoutest boy or the largest school.
Dr. Bryson, of Millersport, and the late Dr. Aldred, of Carroll, were competent and successful teachers in their younger days. The wife of Dr. Bry- son was an Aldred. The first wife of Dr. Aldred was a Crawford, a relative of the late Jacob Van Meter Crawford, of Berne township.
Abraham Winters, who taught school as early as 1810, lived on Pleasant Run, northwest of the Taylor Huber farm. He came early from Rockingham Coun- ty, Virginia. He reared two daughters who were once belles of the township. The oldest married Col. Val- entine Cupp, who, while gallantly leading his regiment, was fatally wounded at Chickamauga. His wife is also dead. The other daughter, Margaret, married Lieu- tenant Lafayette Pickering. Pickering has long been dead, but the once handsome girl is still living. Mar- garet Winters lived in the days when horseback riding was popular, as well as a necessity. She was a daring and accomplished equestrienne and captured more than one prize at the County Fair.
We will name a few good teachers who taught in and about Rushville after the time of Simon Hyde, the greatest scholar of his time. John W. Fauble was
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one of them. He afterwards married a daughter of Rev. James Quinn, and became himself a Methodist preacher of the Ohio conference.
Isaiah Bell, born and raised on Pleasant Run, was a teacher for some years and then entered the Ohio conference as a popular preacher.
John Mason Dick, grandfather of Rev. Dick, of the Ohio conference, was one of the early teachers.
Robert J. Black taught school fifty years ago, or about that time, in Rushville. He resides upon his farm in Rushcreek and is now a cultivator of and an authority on fruit.
Rev. Anderson, pastor of the Presbyterian church of West Rushville, was for some years the teacher of a popular select school.
Wm. Coulson, after his failure as a merchant, was a good teacher. He lived to a good old age, passing his ninetieth year.
The venerable David Pence, grandson of Emanuel Ruffner, in his early days, was a successful teacher. His only daughter is the wife of Joseph S. Sites, of this city. He is a distinguished member of one of the large and distinguished pioneer families of this county.
Most of the school houses in which the forego- ing pioneers taught were built of round logs chinked and daubed and a single log cut out of suffi- cient width for windows. The fire places in many in- stances were as wide as one end of the building, and huge logs used for fuel.
The seats were made of slabs with round legs at each end and destitute of backs. The schools were all taught on contracts signed by each patron, agreeing to pay a stated price for each pupil.
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In one instance a public-spirited citizen, father of Broad Cole, built a school house and employed Abra- ham Cole to teach the school at eight dollars per month and invited his neighbors to send their children and pay pro rata share or not, as they chose or were able. There were no special school hours then. The teacher was there at daylight and had a good fire ready to receive his pupils, make them comfortable and go to work. There were no gold or steel pens in those days ; all were made with pen-knife of goosequills by the teacher. Fancy a teacher at that interminable task now.
As stated above, the early school houses had huge fire places, some as wide as the building, and in one case, and perhaps others, the back logs-children rais- ed in our modern home never saw a back log-were drawn in by horses, ropes being run through the cracks between logs.
All middle age men will remember the ten plate stove used to warm school houses and in universal use, with big letters on the side, "Made by John Moore, Mary Ann Furnace." This furnace and foundry was located in Licking County, on the Licking river, a few miles from Newark, east. Moore, the proprietor, was a famous man, for is it not fame to be known to thousands of school children? He was the father of Mrs. Judge Silas H. Wright, long a resident of Lan- caster, now of Washington.
This same stove once adorned and warmed the country and village stores and many farm houses. Many readers of this sketch will be reminded of a dear old friend. A friend that gave them comfort and never
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boasted of it. A friend around which the scholars gathered at noon time of cold days, chatted and ate their lunch. But alas, the stove has gone and others have taken its place, and saddest of all, the scholars, most of them, are gone and others have taken their place.
PIONEER PREACHERS
OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH WHO WERE FAMOUS IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY
O set of early pioneers are more entitled to re- membrance in these sketches than the self-sac- rificing traveling Methodist preachers of the early days. Many of them were without much edu- cation to speak of, but they were earnest, pious, God- fearing men. They were plain men, and dressed in clothing intended for service and not for show, made upon a uniform pattern, round cutaways. Bishop As- bury's suit was made of homemade cloth. In one case, cloth and suit were both made by a lady friend and presented to him. They traveled horseback, fording creeks and swimming rivers. In many cases it re- quired four weeks to make the rounds of the circuit, and often preaching in some cabin every night. On such circuits the people came ten and fifteen miles to attend the service. This was especially the case on Sunday. They were cheerful men, happy men and good conversationalists, and they were received with open hand wherever they stopped. Happy the family so highly favored. The parents rejoiced for the op- portunity to converse and for the influence for good the visit of the preacher would have upon the lives of their children.
Senator Ewing understood this when he gave a thousand dollars in his will to Catholic priests, as a slight evidence of his regard for the early priests, who
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made his home their home, and assisted him, as he ex- pressed it, in raising his boys. The hearty reception given the preacher was not confined to Methodists .- Presbyterians and Baptists gave them hearty welcome. This is acknowledged by Bishop Asbury in his journal.
The first pioneers to preach in this county, and have charge of a circuit, were Jesse Stoneman and James Quinn. They both lived to a great age and their memory is still cherished. Stoneman, after closing his career as a preacher, settled on a farm in Perry county. He, with his family, is buried at Thornville.
James Quinn preached for nearly forty years, in this and adjoining counties, and closed his career in Highland County. He was buried near Hillsboro, Ohio. He has several relatives in this county, or more properly his wife, who was a daughter of Ed- ward Teal.
James Axley preached in this county in 1805. He was a "rough diamond" and was kept on the frontier all of his life. Being at Chillicothe, he, with another minister, were entertained by Governor Tiffin, a Meth- odist. A part of the evening meal was stewed chicken. - Axley took his portion in his fingers and stripped the bones and then threw them to a dog sitting on the carpet near him. This was probably the first car- pet he had ever seen in a dining room. On his way to Mississippi Territory, to which he had been as- signed, he preached in Nashville. The minister there was afraid he would make a break and gave him a word of caution. Soon after commencing his dis- course a gentleman entered, the minister whispered, " That is General Jackson." Axley exclaimed : " Who cares for General Jackson ! He will go to hell as quick as anybody else if he does not repent." After the close
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of the services Jackson came forward, took him by the hand, and thanked him for his frankness and fear- lessness.
James B. Findlay preached here in 1811, and he was on this district as late as 1842. He was a distin- guished preacher of his time. He, with Rev. Jacob Hooper, who lived near New Salem, were mission- aries to the Wyandot Indians, at Sandusky, in 1821. The city of Findlay is named for one of his family.
James Gilruth was a famous preacher of early days. He was in this county in 1823. He was a man of great strength and fought the rowdies at camp meetings. He, as late as 1842, after the close of his ministry, moved to Davenport, Iowa, where his daugh- ter opened a seminary. The distinguished Dr. Ky- nett, who died a few days since in Philadelphia, mar- ried one of his daughters.
Charles Waddle from 1814 to 1834 was a very distinguished preacher. People came long distances to hear him at camp meeting, and the name of Charles Waddle, was famous in a large region. He fell from grace and left the church. The writer saw hin a few years since in Pleasantville, where he lived a short time with his son, a broken down, sorrowful looking old man, unknown and unhonored in a region where his eloquence had once delighted thousands.
Jacob Young was a distinguished preacher in this county in 1820, and about the year 1841 he closed his ministry here. He was a good man and his life was an inspiration. His oldest son, Wheeler Young, is the present sheriff of Franklin County, Ohio.
Michael Ellis was an earnest, faithful and pious preacher, as early as 1817. Thomas Batton, of the Boys' Industrial School, married a niece of his.
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Of Fairfield County, Ohio.
Leroy Swormstedt was a somewhat famous preacher in this county in 1825. He was for many years manager of the Methodist Book Concern at Cin- cinnati.
James Laws was here as early as 1826. His oldest son was born in Lancaster. His sons were for many ·years and still are commission merchants of Cincinnati.
Henry S. Fernandes was a preacher in this county in 1829. He was in charge of the church at Athens in 1837, when the great revival of that year brought many students into the church, among them Rev. Joseph M. Trimble. He spent his old age in Rush- ville, and made a very modest living selling goods.
In 1830 one of the very distinguished and elo- quent preachers was Samuel Hamilton.
Thomas A. Morris, afterwards bishop, preached in Lancaster one year (1820). Joseph M. Trimble, W. H. Sutherland, R. S. Foster, (now a bishop), M. Dustin, Colonel G. Moody and S. M. Merrill (now a bishop) were distinguished and eloquent Lancaster divines in their prime. Tallmadge Foster, son of the bishop, is an attorney of Cincinnati.
Rev. Joseph Carper was once a distinguished preacher of this region. He was a man of intellect, fine presence and a splendid speaker. He died thirty or more years since in Perry County, Ohio. His son, Homer Carper, was for many years a distinguished lawyer of Delaware, Ohio. Homer once met a gen- tleman of Athens, who told him that if he would go to Athens he could spend a month or two in that county and stop every night with a friend and admirer of his father. Rev. Joseph Carper officiated at the wed- ding of the writer, 45 years ago.
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David Young was another good man, who preached as early as 1826. His home was in Zanes- ville. He married the widow of John McIntire, foun- der of Zanesville, and son-in-law of Ebenezer Zane, founder of Lancaster, Ohio.
Moses A. Milligen was a preacher here as late as 1841. His brother, Lamsden P. Milligen of Indi- ana, was a Knight of the Golden Circle, tried and convicted of treason, and sent to the Ohio peniten- tiary. The kind heart of Lincoln consented to his liberation. The writer met him in Huntington, Indi- ana, a few years since. He referred to Ohio and his early life there and spoke of his brother, Rev. Milligen.
The famous Peter Cartwright preached at the early camp meetings in this county. He was a " rough diamond," but possessed many good qualities as a pioneer preacher. He moved late in life to Illinois and settled near Springfield. His name is immortal, for it will be forever associated with Abraham Lin- coln. In 1847 he was the Democratic candidate for Congress, and Abraham Lincoln was his opponent and defeated him.
His aged widow met with a singular death. She was attending a quarterly meeting. During the gen- eral class, she arose and gave her testimony in a clear but impassioned style, and after she had brought the people to a high state of excitement by her eloquence and zeal, she closed by saying, "I am waiting for the chariot," and immediately sank into her seat a corpse. The preacher in charge arose and immediately ex- claimed, " The chariot has come." Hay tells this in his life of Lincoln, and it is corroborated by a min- ister still living, who was present at the time.
EARLY SPORTS
AND AMUSEMENTS OF THE PIONEERS OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY.
OTWITHSTANDING the many and trying pri- vations of the pioneers, they were not destitute of amusements - not the cultured lecture or refined opera, but healthful and satisfying. It is doubtful if there is any community a happier people than were the first settlers of this country.
Men's amusements were rude and mostly in the open air. Neighbors were brought closer together, communities mingled and there was a hearty inter- change of hospitality.
Hunting with the rifle was indulged in by all classes, both to obtain game for food and for amuse- ment. There were many famous hunters and a poor shot was the exception. Thomas Cherry killed fifty deer in one winter, one bear and other game.
William Murphey, in his early years, killed 63 wolves and a panther. He also killed with his rifle, or his dogs, raccoons, foxes and wild cats to the num- ber of 600. For many years he was a dealer in pel- tries.
Another method of amusement, common to every neighborhood, was the shooting match, or target shooting. A prize or prizes were offered for the best shot, or one set of half a dozen or more would shoot against the same number for the prize, which was a deer, steer, or more frequently turkeys. The contest
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would last, sometimes, an entire day, and always half a day. Christmas was always a favorite day for a shooting match, and sometimes on election day. The contest was one of great interest for the best off-hand shots and all the neighborhood would be on hand. This amusement continued up to within the memory of men now living. The expert squirrel hunters loved the match. The amusement which laid in the shade all other forms was the fox hunt. The hunters, mounted on trained horses, following a pack of fifteen or twenty hounds, in full cry, over hill and dale, re- gardless of fences or other obstructions, the fox oc- casionally in sight, the hounds always, and their music reverberating from hill to hill. Abraham Applegate and Major Cox used to say that the most glorious music in the world was made by a pack of fox hounds, of a frosty morning in October, in full cry. Apple- gate was so much of an enthusiast upon this subject that he was anxious to visit England for the sole pur- pose of seeing and hearing a pack of thoroughly trained hounds in an open country, in full cry. He knew the voices of his dogs, and could tell whether old Bet or Spot was in the lead. Two of the most noted fox hunters of the early. period were William Murphey, then of Walnut township, and Samuel Gray- bill of Greenfield. Both were grand old hunters and grand old men. Both could set a horse when 80 years of age with the best of them, and remain in the saddle to the end of the chase. Mr. William Murphey kept a kennel of hounds as late as to be within the memory of the writer. They were somewhat trouble- some and expensive. Their principal food was mush. Trouble and expense was not counted by such sports- men as William Murphey. Of later years Major Cox,
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Abraham V. Applegate and Dr. A. Davidson were noted fox hunters and often followed the hounds. A pack of hounds, in full cry, would stir the blood of Dr. Davidson .- George Fetters is about the only lover of this fine sport left. He keeps a hound or two to remind him of the days that are gone.
The writer remembers what was called a circle hunt in the year 1848 in Pleasant township. The lines of men were about four miles square, all in command of Colonel Thomas Duncan. At the sound of his horn the lines moved to the center and met near C. Rugh's. Three foxes were gathered in, one of which got away. It was a jolly day, enjoyed by hundreds of excited people. Labor was turned into amusement. Log roll- ings, house and barn raisings and corn huskings, even the wheat harvest; all contributed to the general fund of amusement. Strong men tested the strength of each other and sometimes their tempers.
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