Knox County, Ohio - Biographical sketches, 1881 (part 20 of 20)

LEWIS, JOHN and HANNAH came to Ohio from New Jersey, in the year 1805, stopping for a short time at Mt. Vernon, where there were two or three log cabins. They remained there only a few days, and following the trail of the Sandusky Indians on horseback for about ten miles in a northwest direction, they located in the wilderness on Owl creek, near what is now the village of Luzerne, in Wayne township, where they resided during the rest of their lives. Soon after selecting this place as their future home, they put up a cabin, fourteen feet square, of Buckeye logs, which was their residence for a number of years, and until they had aid enough to erect a house of heavy logs, about thirty feet square, which remained standing for a number of years. This building was used regularly for religious purposes, there being no church at the time in that part of the country. During the War of 1812, there was a fort, also a blockhouse, adjoining and communicating with this residence, and when these early settlers were threatened with danger, they would gather hurriedly together at this fort for protection. There were but few settlers in that part of the country prior to and during the war, and for some time Mr. Lewis' nearest neighbors resided at Mt. Vernon, and the nearest store and mill were located at Zanesville. The trail of the Sandusky Indians, used in going to and from Mt. Vernon and Zanesville, was within one hundred yards of his house, and his family was very frequently honored with their calls, which were usually friendly. These Indians would frequently have access to whiskey when meeting with white traders, and, when intoxicated, were sometimes troublesome customers. 'These early setilers had but little knowledge of the luxuries and comforts of modern homes. They owned a Bible, which was in many cases their only printed book, and constituted their only 1eading. A long rifle with a flint lock, a rude bed and a puncheon table, and but little more. Tea, coffee, sugar and flour were luxuries to be seldom indulged in. Their corn was pounded in a wooden mortar with a pestle, the finest part being used for bread and the coarsest for hominy. Their meat was mostly wild game, of which there was a great plenty. Mr. Lewis had some singular and exciting experiences and adventures with the wild animals that infested the then unbroken forest. Wolf scalps were a legal tender, and were received in payment of taxes, and he, with the assistance of Mr. James Bryant, who came into Ohio soon after, killed fifty-three wolves in one winter. One of the traps used by him is still in the possession of the family.

Live stock had to be protected from these wild animals. One night Mr. Lewis was awakened by some strange noises made by his pigs in the pen, and, taking his rifle, he proceeded to ascertain the cause. Seeing some object moving about, he fired at it, and the next morning, on going to the place, found a black bear lying dead.

About the year 1820, Rev. Henry George, a Welsh Baptist missionary, came from the east and located in this neighborhood, and was the first ordained minister to conduct religious services in that part of the State. His first sermon was from the text, Isaiah 63: i. After he had labored a number of years, a little congregation was collected together, and a church was organized. They erected a log building that had neither stove nor fireplace, on the spot where now stands what is known as the Wayne Baptist church. At the dedication of this log church Mr. George preached from Psalm 122: i.

The first school building in this neighborhood was erected a little way east of Mr. Lewis' residence, was made of logs, and, having no glass, the windows were made of greased paper. Mr. Lewis raised nine children, three sons and six daughters. There are yet four living: William Lewis, near Waterford, in Knox county; Mitchel Lewis, near Morrison, Illinois; Mary Jackson, near Gallion, Ohio; and Jane Bonar, who lives in Bellville.

PHILO, GEORGE J., farmer, post office, Mt. Vernon, born in England in 1834, emigrated to America in 1854, and located in Knox county. In 1856 he was married to Christina Haines, who was born in Muskingum county in 1840. They have five children living: Jesse E., Alice E., John H., Charles M., Agnes I.

Mr. Philo owns one of the best farms in Morris township, and is making a success of farming. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church at Mt. Vernon.

RINEHART, GEORGE, dealer in furniture. He was born in Morris township, this county; he was married to Hannah Jane Stinemetz, who was born in Mt. Vernon. They have four children: Ada A., Mary, Samuel, and Gracie.

He learned the cabinet-makers' trade, 4nd has been engaged in that business over twenty years, also connected with furniture and undertaking; he is doing a good business. ;

NEFF PETROLEUM COMPANY. Mention has been made in the geological chapter of this work of the Neff Petroleum company, whose operations are so extensive in the Kokosing valley in the eastern part of this county and extending into Coshocton county.

The work of this company, of which Mr. Peter Neff, of Gambier, is the heart and soul, is continually extending and has assumed much greater proportions than the people of the county are generally aware. Already Mr. Neff has expended more than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in this region, and still the work goes on with increasing interest.

Last spring (1880) Mr. Neff sunk '' Laurel Well" (No. 9) te the depth of one thousand and five feet, passing through the regular succession of sub-strata. Its log varies but little from the general developments in other oil regions. It is a gas well.

Personally, Mr. Neff is, and has always been, much interested in the study of geology and archeology, and in the development and preservation or utilization of whatever is found under the earth's surface. In accordance with this feeling he has all his life been collecting archeological specimens, and at present has in his home at Gambier one of the most complete and extensive collections of this character in the,country, the sarger part of which has been gathered from the fruitful fields of Knox and adjoining counties. His ''Sandstone Image," supposed to have been the work of the Mound Builders, is a rare relic, and is highly important 'as showing some sort of connection between this mysterious people and the Hindoos - the features of the image being of an unmistakable Hindoo type, or certainly much resembling the images left by that people.

He has many other rare and valuable specimens, and is continually on the lookout for others, his means enabling him to indulge his taste in this important branch of science.

Chemistry In The

This material is described in the following passage from my portion of the '' Report of the Judges on the Philadelphia I¢xhibition of 1876" (Group III Chemical Manufactures); ''One of the more interesting among the minor American exhibits consists of the fine lamp-black which has for about two years past been made at Gambier, Ohio, by imperfect combustion of the natural gas which occurs throughout the petroleum region, and which frequently escapes in such quantity from borings, yielding little or no mineral oil, as to give rise to the term 'gaswell.' There are two such wells in Knox county, Ohio, near the junction of the Kokosing and Mohican rivers, affording very large quantities of hydrocarbon gas, which Mr. Peter Neff, of Gambier, has utilized in the manufacture of lampblack, which he calls 'Diamond Black. He has patented, and uses several kinds of apparatus for burning the gas [of which two are described and figured in the Report]. In the building used, 1,800 burners are at work, consuming about 275,000 cubic feet of gas per twenty-four hours, being about one-fourth of the available supply. The composition of the gas by volume is given as -

''No mention is made of free hydrogen, though from the experiments of Professor Sadtler on samples of natural gas from Western Pennsylvania, it probably is present in small quantity. The lamp-black is at present manufactured to the extent of about sixteen tons per annum. Itisvery fine and smooth, free from coarse or gritey particles, and of an intense blue-black color. * The absence of oily matter is very strikingly shown by mixing it with water. Although from the large amount of air in the mass of loose powder most of it floats at first upon the surface, stirring soon mixes it in large quantity with the water, rendering the whole black and opaque; in its behavior it contrasts strongly with the common lamp-black. It does not color ether, and the liquid, when evaporated, leaves but a trace of residue, while ordinary iamp-black, presumably from rosin, gives a deep yellow solution, leaving an orange-brown tar on evaporation. On burning a quantity of the diamond-black sufficient to fill a large plantinum dish, a barely visible trace of ferruginous ash was left, derived, no doubt, from the scraping of the metallic surfaces (on which the material was deposited and collected). This material is sold to makers of fine printing and lithographic inks inthe United States, and has been sent in small quantity to Europe. It deserves to become more widely known."

I have used this lamp-black for a number of laboratory purposes requiring an artificial form of carbon of very high degree of purity. Mr. Santos has analyzed it, with the following results:

"Sp. gr. at 17° C., after complete expulsion of air, equals 1.729. The air-dried lamp-black lost by exposure at ordinary temperature over sulphuric acid 2.30 per cent of moisture, and a further loss of 0.40 per cent was experienced by heating to roo° C. Continued heating to 200° and then to 300° under atmospheric pressure gave rise to no further loss, but 2 minute amount of water was expelled by subsequently heating in a Sprengel vacuum.

There was also expelled, and condensed on the cooler part of the tube, 0.024 of a solid light yellow hydrocarbon, soluble in alcohol, fusible, and volatilizing rapidly under atmospheric pressure between 215° and 225° C, (impure napthalene ?)

*See similar results obtained by Wright and Luff for carbon prepared from sugar and from carbon monoxide. - Chem. Soc. Y¥ourn., January, 1878, pp. 18 to 20.