USA > Ohio > Licking County > Granville > The history of Granville, Licking County, Ohio > Part 9
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It was probably the year of Mr. John Starr's coming to the place. On the way out, he had been exposed to small- pox, and when he arrived the symptoms were appearing. The people did not dare to receive any of the family to their homes, or even into the village. A "pest house " - a log
117
BENEVOLENCE.
cabin - was immediately built on the hillside, near the creek, very nearly where the present Columbus road leaves the vil- lage, at the intersection of Maple and Pearl Streets, descend- ing to the bridge. There the family were provided for in all kindness, except that none dared personally to minister at his bedside. He recovered, no one else was taken with it, the family soon found a home in the western part of the village, and became prominent members of the community.
The dead of 1818 were eleven, among them : Mrs. John Jones, February 25th, and Mr. Chester Griffin, a young merchant of the place, October 2d, aged thirty.
The most conspicuous event of 1819 was the formation of the Baptist Church, for which see Chapter XXXVI.
The Burial Lot was enclosed by a substantial wall of quarry stone.
A Sabbath School Society was formed at the house of Dr. William S. Richards, of which Dr. Rood was made president.
The spirit of benevolence found cheerful exercise in send- ing aid to missionary laborers among the Indians of Georgia. Subscription papers would pass through the congregation, gathering products. from the farms and shops; then, uniting their forces, they would wheel them to Putnam. There Levi Whipple & Company would flour the wheat gratis ; then boatmen would transport all that gathered there to Marietta without charge; and so they were borne down the Ohio and up the Tennessee. "In three years, besides two boxes of clothing, things were sent valued at $ 300."
About this time the young people began to exercise their talents in public dramatic performances. A society was formed and continued in existence several years. Tragedies, comedies, farces and comic songs were on their programme. For a short time their exhibitions were given in the new church, but objections arising against this use of the house, they went elsewhere.
There were six deaths in 1819; among them Mrs. Chloe Hunt, daughter of Justin Hillyer, Sen., January 11th, aged
118
THE BRICK ACADEMY.
twenty-one ; Mrs. Abi Wright, wife of Spencer Wright, Esq., March 22d, aged thirty-seven.
In 1820, Mr. Harris' health became such that he could not preach, and at his request Rev. Isaac Reed spent six months with the Congregational Church, beginning with the month of May. It did not result in a permanent engagement.
As nearly as, can be determined, this was the time of building the brick school house, which long stood so con- spicuously against the hill at the head of Main Street. It was two stories high, the upper story being fitted up as a
Masonic Lodge; the lower being divided into two unequal rooms for the common schools; the west room, where the boys were taught, being a little the larger, although dimin- ished by the passage way to the room above. Underneath the building and in front was a space about eight feet deep, in two compartments, entered by five archways in front and one at each end, and connected by a like archway in the dividing wall, which was designed as a market place, albeit a market never flourished there. One or two attempts were made to start such an affair, the chief being about 1835. For a few mornings there was a handsome display of meats,
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NEW ARRIVALS.
vegetables and fruits, but discouragement and oblivion settled down upon the undertaking in about two weeks' time. The inhabitants preferred another system for the sup- ply of their tables. In after years the end archiways and two of those in front were closed up. A stone wall was built in range with the front of the building for a rod or two both east and west, opening just by the building for flights of steps about five feet high, and the surface was graded to the top of the wall. The market rooms then became a wood- house.
About this time, Messrs. Abbot & Wing had charge of the hotel in the east end of town. One winter day there came in an old gentleman in thin dress and straw hat, and stopped for the night. In the evening, being an excellent penman, he amused the boys with pen-flourishing. In his hat was a pocket- book and his handkerchief over it. At night he slept on skins on the floor. In the morning he was gone and he never returned. As the room he slept in was to be whitewashed that day, Mr. Abbott ordered it cleared. When the wall map was removed, down dropped the old man's pocket book. Mr. Abbott found seventy dollars in money in it, and the name of a Delaware merchant. Soon after two men came along, search- ing for the old man. They identified the pocket-book, and found that only three dollars of the money were missing. They hastened on to Newark, where they found the man at breakfast.
In May of this year (1820), Dr. John B. Cooley, a nephew of Rev. Dr. Cooley, of old Granville, arrived and began the practice of medicine, and in the fall of the year Dr. Sylvester Spelman also arrived Mr. Simeon Reed entered the place in company with Mr. Hubbard, coming from Ludlow, Vt. When Mr. Reed reached this place he had a good team and what they brought with it and 50c. in money. He was an indus- trious man, giving his attention to what promised most, butchering, teaming, quarrying stones. From 1827 to 1830 he lived in Johnstown, then returning to spend his days here.
It must have been about this time that sixteen pounds of butter were given for one yard of jaconet, which was wanted
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THE SCARCITY OF MONEY.
in a young bride's trousseau. During the war, and imme- diately after, money was plentiful. But the necessities of the people soon carried it out of the country as the price of commodities from abroad, and, the source of supply not continuing, the want of it was soon felt, and all the more severely for the temporary flush. A subscriber to the. Wanderer tendered Mr. Wright, the publisher, four bushels. of wheat at twenty-five cents a bushel (the subscription price being one dollar a year ) for a year's subscription. Mr. Wright declared he would rather he had brought a bag full. of manure to put on his garden. Another gentleman hauled stone from the quarry on Sugar Loaf to the house Mr. Ralph Granger was then building ( now the residence of Mr. G. B. Johnson ), for ten cents a load. It took him three days to earn as many dollars, with which to pay his taxes. Another young man, who was over twenty-one, found a letter in the postoffice for him, from the region of friends in the East. For three months he sought means to earn twenty-five cents in hard cash, wherewith to pay the postage, and then gave it up. He never read that letter.
While this was true with regard to the scarcity of money, the colonists managed, by industry and ingenuity, and bar- tering among themselves, to live with comfort; and their unsupplied wants were not very grievous. The home-made clothes, in frontier fashions, were as comfortable as metropolitan styles would have been. About this time, a very heavy white wool cloth used to be fashioned into a close-fitting overcoat, with a cape of fourfold thickness, each. thickness a half finger-length smaller than the one under it, thus shingling off a man's shoulders in receding layers, as impervious to rain as the roof of a house.
In 1820, a subscription was raised further to aid Captain " Put " Phelps in building a dam across Raccoon, above the furnace, and digging a feed race to his saw mill. The dam was substantially built of logs, and only about four feet high. The race was led across the plain in the track where,
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121
DEATHS.
afterward, the canal feeder was made. Soon after this, Captain Phelps became deranged, and his affairs passed into the hands of his son, Myron, and Mr. Curtis Howe, as guardians.
There were seven deaths in 1820; among them : Mrs. Abigail Boardman, February Ist, aged fifty-one ; Mrs. Damaris Root, wife of Noble Root, June 18th, aged thirty- seven.
16
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ANNALS, 1821-22.
CHAPTER XXI.
The health of Mr. Harris continued steadily to decline, and he was unable to preach. His last public effort was to examine several young people for admission to the church. Rev. Mr. Wittlesey, a teacher at Lancaster, came and received them and administered the communion.
Elder George Evans ministered occasionally to the Baptist Church, the congregation meeting in the Masonic Hall.
In the month of March, Mr. Sereno Wright commenced the publication of The Wanderer, a weekly folio sheet, each page having a space of 10x 16 inches of printed matter. The cash price of the paper ranged from one to two dollars, according to the promptness of the subscriber, and the produce price from two to three dollars.
When Mr. Wright was examined for admission to the church, he was asked as to his belief in the perseverance of the saints. " I find abundance of Scripture for it, but some caution," was his reply. "Suppose you do wrong, and we come and tell you of it?" was the next query. "That is just what I want," was the frank reply. "Suppose some of us do wrong, will you come and reprove us?" was the next question. "I'm afraid I sha'n't! " was his answer. Still, he was received.
November 25th, Rev. Ahab Jinks preached his first sermon, under an agreement to preach two months on pro- bation. In about four weeks some of the congregation were so well pleased with him as to meet and give him an outside call, promising to send for his family. The church, however, did not move in the call until February 1I, 1822. .
In most respects, Mr. Jinks stood in strong contrast with Mr. Harris. Those drawn by one might fail to be influenced by the other. Physically, Mr. Harris was not strong, and his last years were marked by growing weakness. Mr. Jinks was healthy, large, fluent of speech, and possessed of a fine
123
MR. HARRIS AND MR. JINKS.
voice, delighting to preach in the open air. Mr. Harris moved his audiences by the deep fervor of his spirit, speak- ing plain truths in the utmost solemnity of manner. Mr. Jinks moved by the eloquent utterance of brilliant and impassioned periods. The friends of Mr. Harris would say that Mr. Jinks was too demonstrative to rivet the attention of his hearers upon vital truths, and the friends of Mr. Jinks would say that Mr. Harris had the misfortune to have been trained a Puritan, and to be preaching an impossible standard of Christian life. Mr. Harris might possibly have been the better for an exuberant enjoyment of his heavenly Father's earthly blessings. Mr. Jinks might probably have been improved by a inoiety of Mr. Harris' conscientiousness and consecration. The one was thought to be too severe on one occasion, in administering chastisement to a lad who was temporarily in his family, and the other was judged to have violated the Sabbath by unnecessary labor. . The one extreme of ministration following upon the other, it is not wonderful if, under a lower standard, some men came to think of their own religious standing more highly than they had been wont. So it happened that Mr. Jinks at once moved the sympathies of a large number who had stood aloof from Mr. Harris. Men of the world were delighted to hear him, and rallied around him with their support. Even' those who did not go to meeting, were pleased with him personally. One said, " If you will only go to meeting, we will pay the preacher." The salary was quickly and easily raised. A thousand dollars were raised to plaster and seat the church below. It was at this time that the plasterers, being godless men, imposed upon the church building com- mittee, by persuading them that the plastering would be ruined if the second coat should be delayed until Monday. So the work went on all day Sunday.
The deaths of 1821 were twenty; among them, Mrs. Lydia Clemons, daughter of Judge Rose and wife of Wm. Clemons, March 29th, aged twenty-seven; Hannah, wife of Enoch
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FIRST MAIL COACH.
Graves, June 8th, aged forty-four; Jervis Twining, July 18th, aged forty-four; Ezra Perrin, July 25th, aged forty-four ; Samuel Everett, Sen., November Ist, aged eighty-three : Mrs. Isabella, wife of Doctor Wm. S. Richards, December Ioth, aged thirty ; Daniel Warner, December 30th, aged fifty-seven.
1822, Thursday, March 28th, Mr. Harris died, after a three years' illness. A pure heart and a noble soul went to his rest. He builded well and his works do follow him.
Rev. John Hanover had charge of the Baptist Church dur- ing the year, they still worshiping in the Masonic Hall.
Rev. Thomas Hughes, a Baptist clergyman, came from Wales and settled on the Welsh Hills; a man of unblem- ished integrity, an acceptable preacher, and, withal, a master workman in stone. Fifteen years later he introduced the use of marble for monuments and erected that of Col. Lucius D. Mower, which at the time was a great advance upon the style of workmanship then in use.
This year the first mail coach was driven through Gran- ville, running between Columbus and Newark. It was driven by Giles C. Harrington, the mail contractor. After- ward, and previous to 1828, the line was run by Mr. Willard Warner.
Wm. Paige's factory was erected a mile east of town on the left bank of Raccoon.
Hon. Augustine Munson became State Representative, holding the position for two years; and Hon. Thomas Mc- Kean Thompson was County Commissioner, and so con- tinued for three years.
It was probably at this time that the farce of burying the Newark Advocate took place. About seventy copies of the paper were taken at Granville. The paper displeased its Granville subscribers on some political ground and they gathered all the copies of the paper at hand, formed a mock funeral procession and marched to the beating of a muffled drum, from the hotel to the old parade ground, or further
125
BURYING THE "ADVOCATE."
east, and after a speech by Jerry Jewett, the papers were buried. Mr. Briggs had advertised to receive payment for his paper in produce. The subscribers then gathered the most inconvenient kinds of produce they could find, went to Newark, paid their bills and stopped the paper, and the cir- culation in Granville was reduced from seventy to two.
Rev. Mr. Harting, a Methodist, was preaching one Sab- bath to a full audience assembled in Esq. Gavit's residence, when a string piece in the centre of the floor gave way, making a complete hopper of the floor, into which all the assembly glided in a promiscuous mass, amid the crashing of lumber and the cries of the frightened. The noise was heard over all the town, but no one was very seriously hurt. . Nineteen died in 1822; of whom were Col. Oren Granger, January 13th, aged thirty-three; Rev. Timothy Harris, March 28th, aged forty-one; Hon. Jeremiah R. Munson, June 9th, aged forty-two; Elisha S. Gilman, July 13th, aged twenty-eight ; Capt. Job Case, (suddenly,) August 24th, aged sixty-three.
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ANNALS, 1823-26.
CHAPTER XXII.
In 1823, occurred the famous circular hunt of Gibbons's deadening, which, although outside the township, deserves mention here as many of the participants were Granville men. The following particulars are taken from a " Pioneer Paper" prepared by Rev. Timothy W. Howe.
A tract of four miles square was marked out, the lines being blazed on the trees, with cross lines from corner to corner, and a center square of eighty rods on each side. The men met at sunrise, lines were arranged, signals ap- pointed and orders understood. Hornsmen were placed at equal intervals all around the lines. No whisky was allowed on the ground. [Why ? Since everyone used whisky.] The first signal indicated that the lines were in readiness. The second commanded a simultaneous advance. Turkeys soon began to fly over the lines in flocks, and the rifle brought many of them down. Deer, being startled from their lairs, would fly to the opposite side of the square, until checked again. Three wolves were roused. As the lines drew together, the game would be seen running parallel with them, seeking exit from the cordon that was closing in upon them. This drew shots from every side, and kept a con- tinuous rattling of musketry. A huge black bear waked up. As he made his way toward the lines on a lazy gallop, when within twenty or thirty yards of them, fifteen or twenty guns were simultaneously fired at him, and he fell dead. When the lines reached the inner square, the men stood almost touching one another, and the lines were too near to permit promiscuous firing. A half-dozen of the best marks- men were sent in, among whom were Leveret Butler and Captain Timothy Spelman, to finish the work of destruction. One bear, three wolves, forty-nine deer, sixty or seventy turkeys, and one owl, was the list of game taken. There
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BURLINGTON CYCLONE.
being much more man than game, the bear and deer, being skinned, were divided into pieces of four pounds each, and about one-third of the company, by lot, drew a portion. General A. Munson, whose lot drew the bear skin, made a closing speech with his trophy wrapped about him, and at sunset all dispersed, satisfied with the day's work and its results.
From 1822 to 1827, the people of the township were extensively engaged in raising tobacco.
Prices were as follows : Flour, $ 5.00 a barrel ; cider, $ 3.00 ; corn, 25 c. a bushel ; apples, 50 c .; fowls, 75 c. a dozen ; pork, 8 c .; cheese, 614 c .; best burial caskets, $ 4.00.
Deacon Samuel Baldwin died January 27th, aged sixty- three ; Jerahmeel Houghton, September Ist, aged forty- seven.
In 1824, the present Methodist Church was built, where the frame school house had stood. It was a frame structure, 47 x 35 feet, and well proportioned in height. It was finished plainly, and thus used for many years. It cost $ 1450- in trade.
Hon. Samuel Bancroft became Associate Judge, in which capacity he served for twenty-one years.
In 1825, occurred the Great Burlington Storm, on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 18th. As the cyclone passed over the northern part of the county, the black cloud was seen on the horizon by the people at Granville, and a humming noise filled the air. The sun shone brightly, and the air was quiet, but close. Next morning word came of the havoc that had been caused. Many were hurt, and one youth was killed. He was hastening to close the cabin door as the cyclone struck the house. The door was torn violently from the hinges, and boy and door were dashed against the opposite side of the room. Fences were prostrated, and stock was ranging through the grain fields. A mill pond was swept dry, and a log chain was lodged in a tree top. Houses and barns were demolished. Every one was in some
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LICKING SUMMIT CELEBRATION.
way needing help. At once the word spread through the community. Granger's tavern was made the rendezvous. Provisions, clothing, blankets, stores for the sick, were ยท brought in, and wagon after wagon was loaded and started for the scene of suffering. Men and women hurried to proffer their aid; the women cared for the wounded and cooked for all ; the men put up the fences and helped the families to temporary shelters. Dr. Cooley went up and gave them his professional services.
Another incident transpiring outside of the township, yet affecting the citizens, was the celebration at Licking Summit on the Fourth of July. The occasion was the breaking ground in the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal. Governor DeWitt Clinton, of New York, was there, and in his hands was the shovel that threw out the first earth. Granville was deeply interested in the project. The place was to be connected with the main canal at Newark by a feeder leading from the Raccoon, at Paige's factory. It was further contemplated to extend this branch, by private enterprise, around by Captain Phelps' saw mill, following his feed race to the creek, and then the creek to the Lancaster bridge, the addition requiring a dam, guard lock, lift lock, . and half a mile of excavation. This would make the village accessible from the main canal. Great commercial benefit was expected from it. One gentleman enthusiastically remarked: "We shall be a second Utica !" Granville, therefore, was well represented. The cannon cast at her furnace in 1818 was there to speak for her, in charge of the artillery company. An infantry company was on duty. The Granville band was there with its music. The members were : Eliab Doud, leader ; Jeremiah Munson, Jr., and P. W. Taylor, clarionets; Leonard Humphrey, hautboy; Justin Hillyer, Jr., Truman Hillyer, H. L. Bancroft, Daniel L. Baker, bassoons ; and Hovey Sawyer, bass drum. They had also a military band, Justin Hillyer, Jr., and Sheldon Swan being fifers, and D. L. Baker and Chester Clough, drummers.
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LAST BEAR HUNT.
This last band won notoriety that day in playing against that of the Chillicothe Grays, bearing off the palm. Gran- ville bore, in those days, the reputation of furnishing the best musicians in the State. The citizens did not return to their homes with enthusiasm at all diminished. Most of them lived to see the canal constructed, many of them taking part in the work. A few boats visited the quiet banks of the Raccoon, notably, one loaded with potatoes from Michi- gan one season of scarcity - about 1838. Several transports were built on the feeder, and started on their voyage of life. Flour, grain, salted meats, and other products, were shipped for several years. But no one has yet seen Utica arising on the banks of the great thoroughfare.
One sign of progress appeared in the village. Messrs. William Wing and Ralph Granger bought the house of George Case, which stood unfinished since 1818, and pro- ceeded to finish and furnish it for a hotel.
In 1825 were twenty deaths; Mrs. Fidelia Prichard, daughter of Elias Gilman, Esq., and wife of Anthony P. Prichard, died September 5th, aged twenty-three ; Frederick Case, May 10, aged forty eight.
In 1826, Messrs. Charles French and William H. Brace came to St. Albans Township with their clock factory. [See Industrial Enterprises for particulars.] .
In the fall occurred the last bear hunt of the township. A bear and her two cubs were heard rustling the leaves in the woods opposite the house of Esq. Baker, southwest of town. The neighborhood was aroused, and an onslaught made. The two cubs were soon treed and shot. The old bear was chased until night, and again in the morning, fifty men rallying and following her trail, but without success.
Rev. Azariah Hanks preached to the Baptist Church one- fourth of his time.
In August, Mr. William Slocomb, of Marietta, visited Granville in the interests of the missionary cause, carrying forward the work already noticed (1819). Two organizations 17
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130
NEW CHURCHES FORMED.
were effected, one for men, and another for women. Some wished a separate organization for each faction in the church. But his sagacity led him to oppose it, and to insist on united effort. $110.00 were contributed to mission work in 1827, while $90.00 were given to other objects, in the same time, from the same field.
Early in the year, that part of the Congregational Church that favored Rev. Ahab Jinks met and organized another church, called the First Presbyterian Church. "They chose Sylvester Spelman, A. P. Prichard and S. G. Goodrich trustees ; Ebenezer Pratt, Silas Winchel, Levi Rose and Leonard Bushnell elders; Thomas M. Thompson and Hosea Cooley deacons." They immediately raised $310.00 for a salary, and employed Mr. Jinks as pastor.
May 31st, the Second Presbyterian Church was formed, with sixty five members. Lemuel Rose, Amasa Howe, Benjamin Cook, Walter Griffith, Samuel Bancroft, Joshua Linnel and G. P. Bancroft were elected and ordained elders.
The rest of the church remained Congregationalists, un- willing to join either of the above churches, but remaining under the care of Presbytery, as a plan of Union Church. This organization does not appear to have remained com- plete, as the old officers left with the other organizations, and none were elected to their place.
Presbytery received the new churches to its care, thus having three on its roll from the same place.
Mr. Jinks, being dissatisfied with this, withdrew from Presbytery, seeking connection with the Protestant Episco- pal Church.
In these circumstances, many were ready to sustain Episco- pal services, though there was as yet no church of that order. In December, Rev. Amos G. Baldwin arrived in the place, and held Episcopal services occasionally for several months.
There were fifteen deaths. during the year, of whom was James Doud, November 11th.
131 :
ANNALS, 1827.
CHAPTER XXIII.
The year 1827 dawned upon a sad state of morals. There were six distilleries in operation. The common practice of the farmers was to take a load of corn to the distillery, and take home, in return, a barrel of whisky. There were 1700 people in the township, and it is estimated that they consumed ten thousand gallons of whisky annually. There were as many as six balls during the year, which the young people attended, one young lady getting out of her bed-room window to attend, contrary to the expressed wish of her parents. "The children of the scoffer, the swearer, deist, church member, deacon and minister all danced together. Religion was neglected. The boys, in sport, had broken a great proportion of the glass from the church, and we had become a hissing and a by-word." This place was spoken of as " a little town off east of Columbus, with a great meet- ing house with the glass broken out. While on the Sabbath the taverns were full, the house of God was almost empty." [Little's History.] In February, the congregation one day averaged about one person to a pew. There were four congregations, each claiming a right to the meeting house. Besides these four, the Methodists numbered about one hundred, having their own house, and the Baptists half as many, worshiping in the Masonic Hall. Only twenty copies of religious papers were taken in the township. Fifty- one families were without the Bible.
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