The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Part 51

Author: Warner, Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017

USA > Ohio > Tuscarawas County > The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio > Part 51

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Its mineral resources are equally rich and varied. Nearly every hill in the township is underlaid with valuable veins of bituminous coal. The mines now chiefly worked are situated in the east and sontheast parts of the town- ship, whence hundreds of tons are daily mined and shipped by rail beyond the county. Fire-clay is an important product. A bank is extensively worked by Samuel Foltz at the foot of Goshen Hill, several miles southeast of New Phila- delphia. Excellent quarries of lime and sandstone are found and operated, affording a superior material for building purposes.

John Knisely emigrated from Bedford County, Penn., to the site of New Philadelphia in 1804, and negotiated with John Heckewelder for a quarter of land, the deed for which, however, was not passed until four years later. Returning to Pennsylvania, Mr. Knisely brought his family to the wild west country the following year and settled on a farm just east of the county seat. His children were Abraham, John, Samuel, David, Joseph, Sarah (Minnich), Elizabeth (Casebeer), Mary (Williams) and Susan (Stough), all of whom were earnest and prominent pioneers. John Knisely afterwards resided in the vil- lage he had founded, and died in Dover Township in 1835, at the residence of his son, John Knisely, Jr.

Among the resident land owners of the present Goshen Township who were here in 1809, besides the Kniselys, were Henry Albright, John Baltzly, Samuel Best, Christian and David Casebeer, John Judy, Felix Landis, Philip Minnich, George and David Stiffler, John Switzer, Samuel Thomas. Henry Albright, a Pennsylvanian, owned nearly 300 acres near New Philadelphia. He lived there to an advanced age. John Baltzly, hailing from Little York, Penn., was the owner of Lots 7 and 9 in the third quarter of Township 8, Range 1. He was accidentally killed prior to 1820 by a falling tree. His son Peter owned Lot 8, and died in this township ; of his other children, Daniel died in Goshen, John in Sugar Creek Township, Jacob in Holmes County. Samuel Best was a hatter by trade, and had been a tavern-keeper in Steuben- ville. He owned Lot 33, fourth quarter, Township 8, Range 1, in the south- east part of the township, but becoming dissatisfied he removed to Kentucky, and was never afterward heard from. The Casebeers were amongst the earliest pioneers. David and Jacob, who were brothers, emigrated from Pennsylvania probably as early as 1805. David owned the east half of Lot 32, about one and a half miles east of New Philadelphia; was a shoe-maker, and operated a tannery. He afterwards removed to the county seat, built a tavern, and died there in 1846. Jacob was a forger of cow bells. He owned Lot 11, three miles southeast of New Philadelphia. He died in 1865. Christian Casebeer, from Washington County, Penn., after pursuing a farmer's vocation for many years in Goshen Township, removed to Indiana. John Judy came to the county in 1803. He was a native of Switzerland, emigrated to America about 1801, remaining in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, until his removal

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to Tuscarawas County. He remained one winter at Gnadenhutten. He purchased from John Knisely 100 acres of land about a mile east of New Philadelphia, where he engaged in farming. He was a tailor, and fash- ioned clothes for the Indians. Mr. Judy was a life-long resident of Goshen Township from the date of his entrance into it. Felix Landis, a Virginia farmer, owned and occupied Lot 23, several miles southeast of New Philadel- phia. He was an exemplary Dunkard, and passed his old age amidst the scenes of his pioneer home. Joseph Landis, his brother, was a tanner, and his near neighbor. Philip Minnich emigrated fromn Bedford County, Penn., with his family, and settled near New Philadelphia on a farm of several hundred acres, where he lived till his death in 1824. The Stifflers came earlier from the same county, probably in 1803 or 1804. David settled two and a half miles east of New Philadelphia, and died on the place. George purchased a farm about a mile east ef the county seat, and there followed farming and blacksmithing. Samuel Thomas, a Virginian and a brother-in-law of Felix Landis, lived near New Philadelphia. John Switzer, an aged Swiss, came to the township about 1808.

Among other early residents of Goshen who arrived after the county was organized, and before 1820, were the following: Jacob Albert, who was originally from Washington County, Penn., emigrated to Jefferson County, Ohio, and thence to this county, settling in the northeast part of Goshen Township, the southwest quarter of Section 9. He brought with him a large family, and one son, William Albert, was for many years a tavern keeper at New Philadelphia. Jacob Albert died prior to 1820. Michael Smith entered and occupied a neighboring farm, the northeast quarter of Section 12. Farther to the west, on Beaver Dam, on parts of Lots 34 and 35, was Christian Baughman, who came from Bedford County, Penn., and remained a life-long citizen of Goshen Township. Jacob Wallick also settled on Beaver Dam, on a fraction of Lot 37. He afterward removed to Van Wert County. On Pike Run, in the fourth quarter of Township 8, Range 1, were Valentine Fleck and Jacob and David

Foreman. All were from Pennsylvania, and remained life-long residents of the township. Fleck owned Lot 36: Jacob Foreman Lot 29, and his brother, David, Lot 26. Philip Fackler, from Pennsylvania, moved to near Lockport, in 1814. Gotlieb Fackler was also a pioneer. Other early settlers were Casper Engler, Moses and Joseph Everett, Jacob and David Fitch; Samuel Wilson, Henry Shatler, Joseph Rhodes and Frederick Maish; the last-named died in 1823; Gabriel Cryder came to the county in 1808, settled in Dover Township, and a few years later removed to Goshen Township, about five miles southeast from New Philadelphia. He owned Lots 2, 15, 16, and a fraction of 1, in the third quarter of Township 8, Range 1. In 1823, he removed to New Philadelphia.

The Indian mission at Goshen was well known to the pioneers, and the association of the whites with the converted red men did not always redound to the spiritual welfare of the latter. The Indians led an agricultural life to some extent, but retained the hunting proclivities of their former days and ranged the hills and valleys far and near. They visited the early pioneers in every part of the county and were usually welcomed, for they seldom indulged in unseemly conduct. Basket-making was the principal occupation of the squaws. They often camped out along the creeks near by, and while the Indian braves would hunt, the squaws were industriously weaving baskets. They soaked the trunks of black ash saplings in water till they became thoroughly saturated, then with mallets pounded them till the fibers separated and formed their splints. With these they fashioned neat and strong baskets, and sold or traded them to the settlers. At Goshen is one of the oldest burial-

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grounds in the county. Here the missionary Rev. Edwards was laid to rest in 1801, and the venerable Zeisberger seven years later. During the war of 1812 the Goshen Indians were prohibited by the whites from going outside the bounds of their village under penalty of being held and treated as an enemy. An occasional stealthy infraction of this prohibition by a young Indian resulted sometimes in frightening a child or woman who was unfortunate enough to meet him. Rev. Abraham Luckenbach was the missionary at Goshen in the fall of 1823, when the mission was broken up and the Indians removed to Canada. They were extremely loath to leave the wildwood haunts of the val- ley, which had become endeared to them by a long and pleasant residence. Slowly and sadly they left their homes, and traveled up the west banks of the river, accompanied by their pastor. At New Philadelphia they crossed the Tuscarawas, and continued the journey by way of Sandyville to Cleveland, where they embarked on a vessel for their new home in Canada. Tom Lyons is said to have been the only Indian who refused to go. He lingered about for many years, the terror of children and dread of women, for he boasted of having in his possession the tongues of ninety-nine white women, and wanted another to make an even number.

Blake's Mills, usually called Lockport, is a little village of 300 people, located on the south side of the Tuscarawas River, on the Ohio Canal, opposite New Philadelphia. It was incorporated in the spring of 1883, when the fol- lowing officers were elected: Simon J. Beck, Mayor; William E. Beck, Clerk; Christian Coppersmith, Michael Siebold, John Cramer, James McKnight and David Niederhiser, Council; Simon Darst, Treasurer; Edward Steinbaugh, Marshal. The population is largely German. The village contains one gen- eral store, two saloons, two blacksmith shops, a harness shop, a wagon shop, two butcher shops, an extensive lime kiln operated by William McLean, a large grist mill, a brewery, a paper mill, a graded school and a Methodist Church.

The paper mill was removed from Navarre, and built south of the canal on Broadway in 1868, by the New Philadelphia Paper Manufacturing Company. Two years later, its location was removed to the river side, where it was rebuilt at a cost of $25,000 by Judy, Knisely & Co., a firm which still owns it, and which consists of David Judy, George W. McIlvaine, Oliver Knisely and George Welty, the last of whom manages the mill. Fifty tons of straw wrap- ping paper are produced here each month.

The grist mill was built in 1854 by Walter M. Blake. He operated it until his death, and his administrators sold the property to Richard Johnson, from whom the present owner, J. W. Patterson, obtained it. The mill origi- nally contained three run of buhrs. Mr. Patterson added a fourth; but, in the summer of 1883, he adopted the roller process, and refitted the mill with the necessary machinery. The mill is situated on the canal, and is operated by water power. Besides transacting a custom business, the proprietor ships considerable flour to the East.

The brewery was set in operation about twenty five years ago by Michael Berger, who, after a time, sold it to Rudolph Kapitzky. From him the pres- ent proprietors, Siebold & Hockenbraugh, obtained possession. They manu- facture and keep in stock an immense amount of the German's national bev- erage.

The village possesses an excellent two-story brick schoolhouse, erected many years ago, wherein a graded school, composed of three rooms, is kept. S. J. Beck is Principal, and has occupied that position since the graded system was inaugurated. except two terms, during which Mr. Kinsey and George Welty respectively conducted the schools.

The Methodist Episcopal Church is a neat frame structure, which was

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erected during the summer and autumn of 1870, and dedicated in February, 1871, by Rev. J. F. Kennedy, of Delaware, Ohio. The society was organized shortly before the building of the church. Its membership is small.

Lockport was laid out in 1829 by Frederick Shull and Gottlieb Fackler, on the south side of the Ohio Canal, immediately above Lock 13. The original plat included sixty-nine lots. In 1830, the proprietors made an addition of forty lots, 70-109, north of the canal. Its streets were Jackson. North Canal, Adams, Clay and Ferry. In 1833. the original plat was partially vacated and re-surveyed, and Lots 110-121 were laid out on the south side of the canal. The streets were First, Second and Third, extending north and south, and Canal street, running east and west. In 1872, Lots 75-87 inclusive, located on West Adams street, were vacated. Blakesfield was laid out in 1845 by Walter M. Blake, on land adjoining Lockport on the east. It comprised forty-two lots. all of which were located between the canal and river. Broad- way was the main street. Twelve lots of Blakestield, 1-12, were situated west of Broadway, and thirty lots east of it. South Blakesfield was laid out in 1851, by Mr. Blake south of the canal, and adjoining Lockport. The lots, eighty-seven in number, were located on both sides of Broadway. In 1863, Samuel Howe made an addition to Blake's Mills (Lockport), consisting of thirteen lots on the west side of " Oldtown " street, or Broadway, and south of and adjacent to the canal. In 1870, Jacob Darst made an addition of twenty-six lots, south of the canal and on the east side of Broadway.

Mr. Espich built the first house in Lockport. Samnel Sedgwick was an early tavern keeper. Conrad Rager owned and conducted the first store. In 1855, Clark Robinson started a mill to make oil from cannel-coal, but the in- exhaustible supplies of rock oil discovered soon after in Pennsylvania made the enterprise a failure. It was the canal that brought Lockport into exist- ence, and the village still smacks of its origin. A dozen or more old boatmen reside here, some of whom dwell during the winter in houses, while others take up winter quarters in their boats.

The most extensive coal mines in the county are located in the southeast part of Goshen Township on Pike Run. At present two companies are operat- ing mines here. The Tuscarawas Valley Coal Company was incorporated in 1873, after these mines had been worked about a year, the stockholders being Cleveland men. Its mines have been operated continuously since. J. E. Waters, of Bridgeport, is the General Superintendent of the mines. About 150 miners and employes are engaged, and the daily yield of the mines is about 300 tons. The Brock Hill Coal Company was incorporated in 1881. J. M. Shanks, of New Philadelphia, is its General Superintendent. The capacity of its mines and the number of its employes are equal to that of the Tuscarawas Valley Company.

The operation of these mines has produced a mining town of considerable size and importance, called Pike Run. The only recorded lots of the place are Kent's building lots, surveyed ard platted in Ma , 1881, by Oliver Young. They are located on Lot 29, of the fourth quarter of Township 8, Range 1, and number thirty-six, ranged in five tiers, which are intersected by two streets, Main and Center. Pike Run has a population of 500 or 600. It contains three stores, a church and a Knights of Pythias lodge. The name of the post office here is Barnhill.

The Pike Run United Brethren Church was organized in the spring of 1882, by Rev. George F. Deal, with a membership of sixty -three. During the same year a frame house of worship was erected on a lot donated to the church by the coal company. The building is about 36x48 in size, and cost $2,000. It was dedicated .by Dr. Z. Warner, of Parkersburg. The member- ship of the society has increased to 100, and Rev. Deal is still in charge.

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La Belle Lodge, No. 160, I. O. O. F., was instituted at Pike Run May 16, 1883, with thirty five members. It was named in honor of Andrew Baggs, of Bridgeport, Ohio, one of the proprietors of the La Belle Glass Works of that city, who donated to the lodge two building lots. The first officers of the lodge now serving, are John A. Kothe, P. C .; C. F. Grinnell, C. C .; John W. Richards, V. C .; John Hawkins, Prelate; W. B. Davy, K. of R. and S. ; John Smith, M. of F .; Emanuel Hensel, M. of E .; Benjamin Browning, M. at A .; John l'age, I. G .; George W. McIlvaine Roby, O. G. The lodge erected a neat hall in the summer and autumn of 1883.

Ontario Mills was the designation given to sixteen lots laid out by Robert Hanna in 1853 on Lots 26 and 27, about a half mile north of the site of Pike Run. The village did not prosper, and nothing now remains of it.

An imposing town plat of 300 lots was surveyed a few years ago, midway between Dover and New Philadelphia. It was called Mooreville, but the daz- zling attempt to rear a rival city between these two places proved a failure.

Beaver Dam United Brethren Church has a present membership of fifty- two, and is under the patronage of Rev. George F. Deal. The house of wor- ship in the southern part of Section 9, a half mile from the eastern line of the township, was built about 1878. A Lutheran congregation formerly flourished in this vicinity, and was supplied by Rev. E. Greenwold. About 1846, the Lutherans built a church on the site of the present edifice. James Raridan, Daniel Baltzly and Zachariah Garibrand were then trustees. Removals and deaths reduced the membership, and services were discontinued. In 1857, the building was leased for ten years to a United Brethren class, which had just been formed under revival meetings held by Rev. Leander Rinehart. Among the converted were the Leathermans, Wrights, Smiths and Leightles. The church property was again leased by the United Brethren Society, and its mem- bers constructed the present building.

The Bethlehem Methodist Episcopal Church is located in the northeastern part of the township, on the northeast quarter of Section 8. The lot upon which it stands was donated by Mrs. Elizabeth Smith. It is a small frame building, and was erected in 1877, at a cost slightly exceeding $1,200. The present membership is scarcely above twenty. A Methodist class had been or- ganized in this vicinity many years prior to 1850, and in that year a building, known as the Rehobeth Church, was erected near the north line of Lot 2, about a mile southwest of the present structure, the land for the church being the donation of Ransom Newton. Earlier meetings had been held in vacant cabins, and among the early members were Isaac Walters, Jacob Walters, John Everhart, Solomon Minard, Mrs. Elizabeth Smith and Frederick Rummell. This structure was used until Bethlehem Church was built, under the pastor- ate of Rev. J. H. Jackson. Its subsequent pastors have been Revs. Michael Williams, Amos Keeler and William M. Dickerson.

In the southeast part of the township a Methodist class was organized in 1853, in consequence of a series of revival services conducted by Rev. Alexan- der Scott. The following year, during the ministry of Rev. Simon P. Wolf, a frame church, 28x38 feet, was built on Lot 2, near Pike Run, at an expense of $600. Occasional services had previously been held in a neighboring schoolhouse. The leading early members were Henry Mosher and wife, John McClelland and wife, Henry Bess and wife, C. C. Carroll and wife, Mrs. Agnes Ellis, Mrs. Sarah Coleman, James Watkins and wife, Samnel Browning and wife, and John Scott and wife. In 1882, a new church was built on the site of the old, and dedicated in February, 1883, by Rev. W. B. Watkins, of the Pittsburgh Conference. It is a frame structure, splendidly finished, with arched ceiling and stained window-panes, and surmounted by

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bell and belfry. Its cost was $3,500. The new church is called the Plains Church; the old was known as Sansom's Chapel. At present the membership is about eighty. Plains Church circuit includes, besides this charge, Bethlehem Church in this township, Holmes in Warren, and Rockford in Union.

In the southern part of the township, west of the river, on Lot 34, stands the Goshen Methodist Church, which was built about 1854, and is still occu- pied by a small congregation. Anthony Alderson and John Moore were early members.

In 1866, when the oil excitement was at fever heat, and fortunes were rapidly made in Pennsylvania, the Goshen Oil & Coal Company was organized and incor- porated at New Philadelphia, with a capital stock of $20,000, for the purpose of searching the depths of the Tuscarawas Valley for this illuminator. Its offi- cers were Jesse D. Elliott, President ; James Moffit, Secretary ; O. P. Taylor, Treasurer ; Daniel Korns, W. C. Williamson, S. O'Donnell and C. B. Harvey, Directors. In Goshen Township, three miles above New Philadelphia, a well was drilled 500 feet without success, and some of the parties interested wished to withdraw. The well, however, was sunk 400 feet deeper, and a stream gushed forth, which was found on examination to be not oleaginous, but strongly impregnated with salt. Works were at once erected under the man- agement of Jesse D. Elliott, Judge James Moffit, Daniel Korns, W. C. Will- iamson and O. P. Taylor, the principal stockholders, and the evaporation of salt commenced. The name was changed to the Goshen Coal Oil & Salt Company, which, in 1871, disposed of the property to Custer, Scott & Ken- nedy. The present owners are John Custer, B. P. Scott & John Scott. The yield of the works is about seventy barrels of salt per day. The discovery of salt in this well resulted in the drilling and operation of two other wells in Dover Township a year or two later. The product of the three wells, outside of the slight local demand, is sold through the Tuscarawas Valley Salt Com. pany, of which J. M. Custer is Agent, and B. P. Scott, Secretary and Treas- urer. The company handles about 60,000 barrels of salt per annum.

Not far remote from the present River Mills, near New Philadelphia, was in early times the Baker Grist Mill. It was built about 1820, did custom work only, and survived but a few years.

The citizens of Goshen Township who have been elected to the office of Justice of the Peace have been the following, with perhaps a few others : Abraham Knisely, 1808; Christian Espich, 1810, resigned 1811; Abraham Shane, 1811; Abraham Knisely, 1811; Jacob Blickensderfer, 1818; Samuel Lamberson, 1819; Wright Warner, 1819; J. Blickensderfer, 1821; Alexander McConnell, 1822; Abraham Knisely, 1822; Jacob Blickensderfer, 1824, removed from the township during term; James Stough, 1825; Nathan McGrew, 1825; Andrew Seaton, 1827; Samuel Stough, 1828; Abraham Knisely, 1828; Andrew Seaton, 1830; John W. Taylor, 1831; Abraham Knisely, 1831; Jacob Kitch, 1833; John Butt, 1834; Andrew Seaton, 1834; Samuel Sedgwick, 1835; John Butt, 1837; Andrew Seaton, 1837; John Judy, Jr., 1838; John Butt, 1840; Charles Korns, 1840; John Judy, 1841; Robert Copeland, 1843; John Judy, 1844; Samuel Sedgwick, 1846; John B. Reed, 1846, resigned 1849; Samuel Sedgwick, 1849; George W. McIlvaine, 1849; Joshua Pepper, 1847 ; John Grimm, 1850, resigned 1852; Joseph Walton, 1852, removed from township during term; Samuel Sedgwick, 1852; George W. McIlvaine, 1852; Jacob C. Helmick, 1853; William McPherrin, 1855, resigned 1855; Joseph Welty, 1855, resigned 1858; Alexander L. Neely, 1855; John Butt, 1856; William L. Robb, 1858; Alexander L. Neely, 1858; John Butt, 1859; John W. Morrow, 1861; John Grimm, 1861; John Butt, 1862; Solomon Hoover, 1862; Daniel Christy, 1863; Bowers Seaton, 1864, resigned

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William Hamilton

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1865; William L. Robb, 1865; Solomon Hoover, 1865; Daniel Christy, 1866; William L. Robb, 1868; Solomon Hoover, 1868, died 1870; Daniel Christy, 1869; Asbury Insley, 1870; William L. Robb, 1871; John W. Albaugh, 1872; Asbury Insley, 1873; John S. Graham, 1874; William L. Robb, 1874; Asbury Insley, 1876; John S. Graham, 1877; William L. Robb, 1877; Samuel Moore, 1880; Philip S. Olmstead, 1879; John S. Graham, 1880; Samuel Moore, 1880; Emery G. Dutton, 1881; P. S. Olmstead, 1882; Charles W. Swesey, 1883.

CHAPTER II.

AUBURN TOWNSHIP.

NAME-ORGANIZATION -PHYSICAL FEATURES-MINERAL RESOURCES - FIRST SET- TLEMENT-FIRST MILLS AND SCHOOLS-CHURCHES- RAGERSVILLE -JUSTICES.

T "HE ambitious disposition of Auburn Township's early settlers was mani- fested in the selection of its name. It was chosen, says trustworthy authority, for the sole reason that its initial letter was the first of the alphabet, and in consequence it leads in alphabetical order the long array of Tuscarawas County's civil subdivisions. The township dates its birth on the 6th day of June, 1838. On that day, the Commissioners erected it from portions of Bucks, Sugar Creek, Jefferson and Dover Townships. Its boundaries, as then established, are exactly the same as at present, as follows: Beginning at the northwest corner of Section 13. Township 8, Range 4; thence south four miles to the southwest corner of Section 3, Township 7, Range 4; thence east on the section line three miles to the southeast corner of Section 1, Township 7, Range 4; thence south eighty perches to the south west corner of Lot 37, Range 3; thence east one-half mile to the southeast corner of said lot; thence north 100 perches to the northeast corner of the same lot; thence east two miles thence north four miles to the northeast corner of the northwest quarter of Section 13, Township 8, Range 3; thence west five and one-half miles to the place of beginning. Though slightly irregular in outline, it may be said to be five and one-half miles in length, east and west, and four in width, north and south. It lies in Townships 7 and 8, of Ranges 3 and 4, on the western edge of the county. All its territory is Congress land, except % a Tor acre military lots in the southeast portion.

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The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Part 51

Author: Warner, Beers & Co. Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1017

Author: Warner, Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017