The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Part 64

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

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Attorneys. - The first attorney to locate in Dennison was Mr. J. W. Yeag. ley, who entered upon his professional career here in April, 1874. J. T. Mccullough also located here in 1874. and remained about one year. E. C. Lingan, a law student of Mr. Yeagley, was admitted to the bar September 1. 1879, and gave some attention to law practice until the close of his term as Mayor in April last. Mr. Yeagley is at this time the only practicing attorney in the place.

Early Industries .- Among the early industries of Dennison, we note the steam flouring mills of Robert Hanna. They were moved here from Hanna- town, a little settlement two or three miles north of Dennison, as early as 1868 or 1869, and have been in successful operation ever since.

The first business house in Dennison was built by John Benson, on the corner of Logan and First streets. In one of the rooms of this building Mr. Benson started the first dry goods and general merchandise store in the town. That was at that time the business center of Dennison, but its glory in that respect has long since departed. The first residence on the south side of the tracks is the one in which Abraham Johnson now lives, southwest corner of Logan and Third streets. The " Company Row," occupying nearly all the ground on both sides of South Third street, between Bank and Logan streets. was built early in 1869, and were the first residences in the town of many of the railway employes. These buildings are still owned by the Dennison Land Company.

The first grocery and provision store in Dennison was kept by Mr. W. W. Wallace, in the front room of the one-story frame house belonging to E. W. Showman, near the railroad tracks, corner South Fourth and Bank streets. He afterward moved his store to Benson's Block, and from there to his present lo- cation on Third street. Mr. Wallace is the pioneer of his branch of trade in the town. He came here in 1867, and still remains as one of Dennison's most prominent citizens and business men.

The first drug store was opened by Dr. T. H. Wilson, in one of the rooms of the Benson Building on Logan street, in the fall of 1871. This store was moved to the brick building, corner Third and Center streets, in November, 1872, and was purchased by W. W. Alexander in 1873, and soon after sold by him to Finney & Trader, present owners.

The first stove and tinware store was started by Foster & Woodborne, in the Benson Building, in November, 1872; the first furniture store, by John Hicks, in October, 1873. Other branches of business were also started up about the same time by various parties, but, so far as we have been able to learn, all data are lost as to who was first in the field.

The Dennison Railway Dining Hall and Lunch Rooms were opened in the winter of 1868-69, by Messrs. I. M. Hoover & Sons. These gentlemen con- tinued to conduct it, with the exception of an interval of a year or two, until 1878, when Mr. W. A. Bovey, the present lessee and proprietor, assumed con- trol. Trains have always stopped here for meals, and the hungry traveler has ever found plenty at both hotel tables and lunch counter.

One of the most extensive business ventures in the history of Dennison was that of the Dennison Store Company, which erected the large three-story brick buildi g, corner Fourth and Center streets, and opened a general store. with a stock of goods estimated at about $20,000 in value. The building was put up in 1870, and the store opened, with prominent announcement, Novem- ber 14 of that year. As an evidence of the enterprise and flourish with which the business of this company was inaugurated, we mention the fact that their

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newspaper advertisement occupied one full page of the Tuscarawas Chronicle of December 8, 1870. The names of the firm were Thomas L. Jewett, Charles Hallowell and A. J. McDowell, with E. S. Kimber as Superintendent. A. J. McDowell retired at the close of the first year, and Messrs. Jewett and Hallow- ell carried on the business until April, 1872, when Mr. Jewett disposed of his interest to Thomas Denmead and W. W. Card, of Dennison. Mr. D. T. Den- mead also succeeded E. S. Kimber as Superintendent. These gentlemen car- ried on business with varied success until October 1, 1873, when the stock was purchased by John Hover, who remained in possession until February. 1876, when he disposed of the store to Henry Hay, of New Philadelphia. Mr. Hay made an assignment in a few months, and thus ended the career of the Denni- son Store.

The Dennison Building, Saving & Loan Association, an institution which did much toward building up the town, was organized in the spring of 1873, and continued in operation for about ten years, closing up its affairs early in the present year.

The Tuscarawas Library and Reading Room was organized in Dennison in January, 1878, with Col. J. R. Shaler as President and leading spirit, assisted by Messrs. J. H. Barrett, R. Kells, A. M. Mozier, J. W. Ansell, J. C. Tim- mons, Thomas Wright and others. The object was to furnish a public read- ing room for the benefit of railroad employes and others. and a suitable place for concerts and other first-class musical and literary entertainments. The Gounod Club was organized about this time, and rendered "Pinafore " and several other entertainments with great success. The early days of the read- ing room and the Gounod Club are among the most pleasant social recollec- tions of Dennison. The reading room is still in existence, but is managed more in the interest of the railroad company, as a resort and reading place for its employes than formerly, after the fashion of the railroad reading rooms in the larger cities.

One of the leading industries of Dennison is the Dennison Coal Company, which has extensive mines just south of town, and has a tram-way extending into the P., C. & St. L. Railway yard, east of the shops. A large coal tipple sup- . plies the engines of the P., C. & St. L. Railway with coal, and a considerable quantity is also shipped to distant points. Thomas Shipton, Jacob Pearch, O. S. Cummings and other citizens of the community were formerly interested in the enterprise, but it is now owned and operated by Messrs. Hurxthall, Allen & Graham. About seventy miners are now employed in the mines of this com- pany.

Dennison, though comparatively a young town, has had several pretty ex- tensive fires within the period of its history. Among the first of these disasters was the large frame boarding house, just east of the Railway Hotel, known as the "Big Onion," and owned by the land company. It was totally destroyed by fire June 20, 1873. A large two-story brick, erected by the Greer Brothers on the corner of Grand and Third streets (where Bell & Penn's new building now stands), and owned at the time of its destruction by Andrew Crim, was struck by lightning, and entirely consumed in 1877. The elegant residence of the Division Superintendent of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Rail- road, on the corner of Grant and Sixth streets, and occupied at the time by Superintendent J. H. Barrett, was burned to the ground November 3, 1874. An extensive conflagration which destroyed four framme buildings in the rear of the depot, on Center street, and threatened for a time the destruction of Bovey's Railway Hotel and lunch rooms, the depot and other buildings, occurred on the night of October 3, 1881. These disasters retarded to con- siderable degree the progress of the town for a time, but the waste places have

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all been rebuilt, except the "Big Onion" and the Superintendent's resi- dence.

Among the earliest settlers of Dennison now living in the town, we mention the names of John Benson, Thomas McCormick, George M. Wyne, William M. Teaff, J. C. Johnson, John Varner, John McHattie, John Lingan, Thomas Nelson, J. M. Gloyd, Robert McCully, Mrs. Mary Newton, Mrs. A. Marsh and Mrs. I. Denmead. Others are still living elsewhere, many of them occupy- ing important positions in railway and other public service. Persons who lived in Dennison in its infancy are to be found in all parts of the country, scattered far and near, never to be brought together again this side the eternal shore. Mr. John Welch, the oldest citizen of the town, who owned the land on which it is mostly built, died at his residence in Dennison, April 21, 1881, at the advanced age of seventy-two years. Mr. Alonzo Marsh, one of the oldest employes of the Pan Handle shops, and who had charge of a small blacksmith shop located near where Third street now crosses the Dennison yard, and where necessary repair work was done for the railroad before the shops were built, died at his home in Dennison June 15, 1881. Prof. Will- iam Hill, the first Principal of the Dennison Village Schools, died here De- cember 24, 1880.

Many other incidents of an interesting character, relating to the history and growth of Dennison might be written, but our space is exhausted. and we must leave them for the pen of the future historian. That Dennison, young as it is in the calendar of years, has considerable history bound up in the period of its existence, and that it seemingly has a bright future before it, we think no one who reads this brief sketch will stop to question.

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OXFORD TOWNSHIP.

CHAPTER XI.

OXFORD TOWNSHIP.

LOCATION - SURFACE AND STREAMS - HIGHWAYS -GEKELEMUKPECHUNK - FIRST WHITE OCCUPATION-EARLY SETTLEMENTS-SCHOOLS-CHURCHES-JUS- TICES-NEWCOMERSTOWN-ITS CHURCHES, ORDERS, SCHOOLS AND INDUSTRIES.

XFORD TOWNSHIP occupies the southwest corner of Tuscarawas County, and embraces Township 5, of Range 3. The Salem Moravian tract, which was located prior to the establishment of township and range lines in the United States Military District, cuts off about 600 acres which otherwise would have been in the northeast corner of Township 5, Range 3. The southern half of the township is Congress land. The northeast or first quarter is surveyed into thirty-four 100-acre military lots. The northwest or second quarter, a full 4,000-acre tract, was entered in a body by John Beaver in 1800, and by him sold in tracts of various size from time to time. Oxford was one of the four original townships of Tuscarawas County, which were formed in 1808, and included one-fourth of the county, or all of Township 5 and the southern half of Township 6, of Ranges 1, 2, 3 and 4, territory which now comprises Oxford, Washington and Perry and parts of Salem, Clay and Rush Townships, Tuscarawas County, and Oxford Township and the southern half of Adams, Coshocton County. These extensive bounds were gradually lessened by the erection of new townships, until the present limits of Oxford were reached.

The topographical features correspond closely with those of other town- ships in the Tuscarawas Valley. Along the route of the river, which courses in a westerly direction through the northern part of the township, the level bottom lands afford the best facilities for fertile farms, while the rough and hilly lands on either side require greater toil before they yield the generous harvests of the valley. The southern part of the township is drained by runs and rivulets, which flow southward, and finally reach the Muskingum through the waters of Will's Creek. The surface was heavily timbered, when first known to the settlers, with walnut, white oak, black oak, wild cherry, buckeye, and other species of forest growth. Dunlap's Creek, named from an early set- tler on its banks, enters the river on the south, in the eastern part of the town - ship; in the northwestern part of the township is Buckhorn Creek, so called from its peculiar shape; this stream does not reach the river until it crosses into Coshocton County.

The Ohio Canal crosses the northwest portion of the township; here two railroads also meet the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis, following the val- ley of the river, and the Wheeling & Lake Erie running north and south. On the latter road, in the southern part of Oxford, is Post Boy Station, 80 named from the boy mail-carrier, William Cartmell, who was murdered bear by in 1825 by Funston, as noticed in a previous chapter. The Coshocton road, over which the mail was carried, passed east and west through the southern part of the township, and in early times was traversed frequently. It was by this road that most of the early settlers of Oxford and the adjoining townships arrived.

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Gekelemukpechunk, the capital of the Delaware nation, was situated on the north side of the Tuscarawas River, east of the present Newcomerstown, on a part of its outlots. It occupied the low plateau, near Nugen's bridge, which sweeps down to the river bottom, and stretches back to the foot of the ridge of mountains that form the northern barrier of the valley. The plat be- longing immediately to the town itself probably was a mile in length, extend- ing from the field next above the Newcomerstown Schoolhouse to the bridge. On the south side of the river, opposite the capital, evidently were its corn- fields. David Mulvane, in his childhood, saw abundant evidence that as many as 300 acres of land had once been cleared there and under cultivation. When Zeisberger first visited Gekelemukpechunk in March, 1771, as the guest of Netawatwes, it was in the zenith of its prosperity. It numbered then about 100 houses, nearly all of which were constructed of logs. That in which the chief lived was the largest among them, built of dressed logs, and had a roof of shingles, floors of sawed boards, regular staircase, and chimneys of stones, walled with mortar. Capt. Kollender, of Carlisle, Penn., an Indian trader, had his headquarters there, and besides him Zeisberger found nearly a dozen white persons in the town, mostly engaged in bartering. In 1775, the capital of the Delawares was removed from Gekelemnkpechunk to Goshackgunk, on the site of Coshocton, and a majority of the inhabitants removed to the new capital. Indians, however, lingered and dwelt here for many years, naming the place Newcomerstown. probably in honor of their former chief.

From being the haunt of the Indian traders while the red men still re- mained in the valley, the vicinity of Newcomerstown was oocupied by hunters and trappers, whose title to the domain was only a squatter's claim or a right by virtue of possession. They remained only until the land was entered and occupied by its owners, then journeyed farther to the West, where they might enjoy the wilds of nature undisturbed. Who the first permanent white settlers of the township were cannot be definitely determined. John Mulvane was dwelling in the valley as early as 1804, as shown by a running account he then had at the Gnadenhutten store of David Peter. He afterward owned 100 acres in the second or northwest quarter of the township. His brothers, Jo. seph and William, were pioneers of Oxford Township, Coshocton County. The Mulvanes are yet numerous in Newcomerstown and vicinity. The same evidence which establishes Mulvane's residence in 1804 proves that David Johnson sojourned in the land in 1805. He was the happy owner of 269 acres in the northern portion of the township, and, in partnership with Mr. Sills, who was also a pioneer, operated a distillery, greatly to the satisfaction of his neighbors who indulged their taste for the ardent fluid. Daniel Harris, a Virginian, was among the first residents, though only an occasional one. He was here some time prior to 1809. He was the owner of Lots 5, 12, 13 and 20, in the first quarter, and 350 acres in the second quarter of the township. His permanent home was in Virginia, but he made periodical trips to his land in this township, where his two sons, George and William, lived. William Har- ris returned to Virginia, where he died, and George moved to near Port Wash- ington, where he spent the remainder of his life. George Bible, a great hunt- er, was found living on the site of Newcomerstown by Nicholas Neighbor. He had been there for many years, but had acquired no freehold. Barney Riley, another hunter and also a squatter, had pitched his cabin on the Stark patent in an early day, and lived there till his death.

Near Riley, several other squatters dwelt in very early times. John Pierce was there before 1816. He was a rough frontiersman and a hunter, and died in the township. Nicholas Funston was also a squatter on the Stark patent before 1816. He was a rough character, and had a large family. One of his

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sons, John Funston, was the murderer of the post boy in 1825; he was only twenty-two years old at the time he committed the villainous act, and pre- viously was regarded as a worthless young man. His only occupation had been fishing and hunting. What was widely known in early times as the Stark patent, and is still so-called, was a tract of ten military 100-acre lots, Nos. 21, 22, and 27 to 32 inclusive, located in the northeastern part of the township, north of the river. This land was located by the famed Gen. John Stark, of Manchester, N. H., and his son, Lieut. Archibald Stark, on a war- rant granted for their gallant services rendered during the Revolutionary war. It was occupied first by squatters, but in 1824 and 1825 Caleb Stark, a rela- tive of the General, purchased the land and made a western trip to improve the track, and while here sickened and died. John Hartley was another early hunter and squatter. He was a tall, stout, robust frontiersman, who, summer or win- ter, wore a shirt with a wide collar unbuttoned about the neck. His danghters wore buckskin dresses, in true backwoods style, and, as the settlement increased, the freedom of the forests became restricted, and about 1831 the entire fam- ily, in discontent, betook themselves to the wilds of Arkansas.

The most important early settlement was made by a colony from New Jersey, chief among whom were the Neighbors. In 1814, Nicholas Neighbor, of Morris County, N. J., made a tour of inspection to the Tuscarawas Valley, and, pleased with the land, purchased in behalf of himself and others from Godfrey Haga 1,900 acres in the north west part of present Oxford Township. Ha- ga had obtained the land from the original proprietor, John Beaver. The follow- ing year, a colony of about sixty emigrants left New Jersey for this land. It included the families of Nicholas, David and William Neighbor, three brothers, that of Leonard Neighbor, the son of Nicholas, William Gardner, Townsend Cobb, John Welch and family, and George Starker and Moses Mor- gan. The last named two settled with their families across the line in Coshoc- ton County. They came in wagons, and four weeks were consnmed in the journey. Until cabins could be erected, they took possession of some Indian huts in the Indian village of Newcomerstown, but in a short time the cabins of the settlers dotted the valley north of the river.

Nicholas Neighbor was a prominent pioneer. He removed to a farm near New Philadelphia, in 1818, but returned to Oxford Township in 1831, and in connection with Jacob Overholt, conducted the first store in Newcomerstown, which village he had laid out a few years previous. From 1818 to 1832, he was one of the Associate Judges of the county. He died in 1848, leaving a numerous posterity. Leonard Neighbor, his son, died in February, 1816. David Neighbor died prior to 1830, and William in 1840. They were highly respected settlers, Lutheran in religious belief. Their early cabins were half- hewed, excelling the ordinary pioneer log cabin.

John Welch, the son-in-law of Nicholas Neighbor, received a large portion of the purchased tract. Not liking the wilderness, he soon returned to New Jersey with his family, selling his land to John Tufford, John Flock, and per- haps others. Years afterward he returned to this county, and spent the bal- ance of his days within its borders. Townsend Cobb was a laborer, poor and destitute of land. He died in this township, as did also his two children. John and Elizabeth, wife of James Mulvane, the latter of the two, recently. William Gardner remained only a short time, but years afterward he returned to Oxford Township.

In 1816 and 1817, other settlers from Morris County, N. J., reached the settlement. Among them was Jacob J. Miller, the son-in-law of Nicholas Neighbor. He was a Lutheran, and died in the township. John Tufford, also a Lutheran, came from the same locality in 1816. He settled north of

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the river, southwest from Newcomerstown, where he was a life-long farmer. He died about 1829. His son, Jacob Tufford, who resides on the old place, is the only survivor of the family. Andrew Creter, who likewise hailed from Morris County, N. J., came about 1818. He was a farmer, and kept the first tavern in the township. He succeeded Nicholas Neighbor as Postmaster of Newcomerstown, before the village of that name was laid out. John Flock another New Jerseyman, came in 1816 or 1817. He. remained here through life; a son afterward emigrated to Iowa. Joshua Gardner came from the same place and about the same time. He was the brother of William Gard. ner, and died at Newcomerstown at an advanced age.

Jacob Stouffer was a resident of the township prior to 1820. He purchased a farm from Abraham Shane, but the title proving defective he was obliged to yield possession. Daniel Booth was one of the early settlers in the south- east portion of present Oxford. He owned and occupied the north west quar- ter of Seetion 22, some time prior to 1826. Nathan Shepherd, another pioneer of this locality, owning the northeast quarter of Section 23, was from Bel- mont County, and afterward returned there.

Jacob J. Miller probably tanght the first school in the township. He gave instruction in 1818 or earlier at his cabin, situated north of the river and near the county line. Not long afterward, Seth Hart, a stranger in the land. gave a term or two of school at the Stouffer cabin, a short distance above the Nugen bridge. The cabin contained two apartments, and the one occupied during the day as the school room, was used at night as a bed room by the family of Mr. Stouffer. John Funston received at this school all the educa- tion he ever obtained.

In Oxford Township, beyond the bounds of Newcomerstown, are four churches. A German Lutheran Church stands in the southwest quarter of Section 16, in the southwestern part of the township, on the farm now owned by Jacob Boltz. The society was organized in Guernsey County; but removed to this township, and erected the present building in 1868. The membership of the society is about fifty.

Bird's Run Baptist Church was also organized in Guernsey County, in 1845, and, in 1853, by removal became a society of Oxford Township. The present edifice, a frame, 30x45 feet, located on J. McDonald's land, in the southeast quarter of Section 16, was erected in 1870. Rev. Miller is the present minister. The membership is seventy-one.

The People's Methodist Episcopal Church was organized about 1843, and very soon after a meeting-house was erected on land owned by John Booth in Section 22. In 1875, the old church was destroyed by fire, and the same year a new one was erected. The present membership is about one hundred, and Rev. L. Timberlake is the minister.

The United Brethren Centenary Church is located close to the center of the township. The society was organized about 1855, when the first church structure was built. It was superseded by the present edifice, 32x36 feet in size, which stands on the site of the old church, and was opened October 23, 1873. The first pastor was Rev. C. Titus; the present one, Rev. Joshua Cecil The membership is 110.

The following is a list of the Justices of the township, whose names have been preserved on record. Some of the earlier ones resided on land that is not now in Oxford Township. James Douglass, who lived across the Coshocton line, on the site of the fair grounds, 1808; John Carr, 1810, resigned 1S11; George Bible, 1811; Robert F. Caples, 1812, resigned 1812; Joseph Wampler. 1812, resigned 1813; Paul Sherader, 1814; David Neighbor, 1819; David Neighbor, 1822; Jesse Upson, 1824; Andrew Creter, 1828; Andrew Creter,

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1831; Andrew Creter, 1834, resigned 1836; Lemuel Bartholow, 1836; Jacob Neighbor, Sr., 1836; John Eckman, 1839; Jacob Neighbor, 1839; Levi Sar- gent, 1840, resigned 1842; Morris Creter, 1842; Jacob Neighbor, 1842; Charles F. Davis, 1845; Jacob Neighbor, 1845; Charles F. Davis, 1848; John Laug- head, 1848; Charles F. Davis, 1851; John Laughead, 1851; Clark Creter, 1853; John Laughead, 1854; George Booth, 1856; I. G. Creter, 1857; James Porte- mess, 1859, resigned 1861; John W. Rodney, 1860; George R. Little, 1861; John W. Rodney, 1863; G. R. Little, 1864; Charles F. Davis, 1866; G. R. Little, 1867; William S. Dent, 1869; Morris Creter, 1870; O. B. Dent, 1872, resigned 1875; Morris Creter, 1873; George R. Little, 1875; Morris Creter, 1876; S. F. Timmons, 1878; Morris Creter, 1879; John T. Pocock, 1881; Horace G. Little, 1882.

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The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Part 64

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

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