Licking County, Ohio - Franklin Township, 1881

Meeting

'Ts this the land our fathers loved, The freedom which they toiled to win? Is this the soil whereon they moved? Are these the graves they slumber in? Are we the sons by whom are borne The mantles which the dead have worn?" - Whittier. HIS township abounded in works erected by the Mound Builders. Few sections of the extensive territory in which these works are located are more prolific than this township. It seems to have been a Mound Builders' paradise. If these silent monuments of a lost race could but talk, what treasures would they reveal. How insignificant man appears standing mute and dumb beside these works; what a lesson they teach of man's ignorance, and how all his boasted knowledge and power vanish, as in their presence he is dumb and helpless as a child. They are here, his practicel sense tells him that, but little else does he know of them.

Among the most elaborate and extensive of these works were those on the high hill, the most elevated ground in the yicinity, a short distance north of Amsterdam, near to, and in a northeasterly direction from Fairmount church in Licking township. These consisted of a circular wall or embankment, now only a few feet high, enclosing an area'of about eight acres. On the outside of this wall is a ditch eight or ten feet feet in width, which was made by throwing the earth out to make the embanament. These works have been plowed over many times, and are gradually disappearing. Within this enclosure there stood, near its center and within one hundred feet of each other, 'hiked mounds, two being of stone. One of the stone mounds had a diameter at the base of forty-five feet, and the other two mounds of thirty feet; all were about twenty-five feet in height. The two stone mounds were removed many years ago by

Mr. Tolling Cover, who found in the oul one some skeletons within three feet of the surface of the ground, which must have belonged to persons of very large size. 'The stone in these mounds were not of large size, and the earth, after their removal, was very black, and gave indications of the presence of fire before and soon after the commence. ment of the mounds; perhaps upon the first layer of stone, or more likely, upon altars which had been erected, and upon which sacrifices had been offered as an act of worship, as was the practice of some ancient nations.

By no means the most insignificant of the works of the Mound Builders in Franklin township, is the large stone mound half a mile south of the center of the township. Its diameter at the base was originally about forty feet, but it is much more now, as an attempt made many years ago to open it and get down into the middle, resulted in greatly reducing its height (probably about twenty feet), and adding to its diameter by throwing the stone down upon all sides of it. 'The earth was not reached in the middle, but the height of the mound was reduced about ten feet. The late Judge Elmathan Schofield, of Lancaster, who was government surveyor during one of the earlier years of the present century, and as such run the section lines here, one of which crossed this mound, made an entry upon his field notes, after designating its locality, pronouncing it "a singular pile of stone."

Probably the "Tippett" mound has attracted as much attention as any other in Franklin township. It is situated a few hundred yards east of the road leading from Newark to Linnville, in full view of it, near the former residence of Mr. James 'Tippett. This mound was seventy-five feet in diameter, and.twenty-one feet high. It was opened several years since, and a stone whistle and quite a number of human skeletons exhumed. 'Two remarkably well preserved crania were taken out, in connection with skeletons, at twenty feet from the top, and just above the level of the land around the base of the mound. The mound was composed of layers of earth, charcoal, ashes and

There is a fort of low banks near the center of the township, in part on the farm of P. ', Coulter, nearly a mile east of the Tippett mound, and about the same distance northeasterly from the celebrated stone mound.

There is also a stone mound near the Madison township line, half a mile or more from Clay Lick; and also one on the farm of A. Inlow, neither of which is There are also earth mounds of greater or Jess magnitude on the farms oi A Trout, D..Moore, oJ. Smith, Mr. Handly's "spring farm,"

This township was composed entirely of United States military lands, sometimes called 'Army lands," and was part of the extensive tract dedicated by the Government to the payment of the officers and soldiers of the Revolution. Congress, by an act passed June 1, 1796, authorized the survey into ranges and townships, of this tract, and Franklin township appears on the plat of the original survey as in the first tier of townships in the eleventh range.

The surveys into ranges and townships took was granted by Congress, and it was to these surveying parties that Elias Hughes, John Stadden, and perhaps others of the earliest pioneers of this county, were attached. The surveys townships were made at subsequent, but not -remote periods.

The township is watered by Hog run and Swamp run, the latter heading here, and emptying into Hog run in Licking township; also by Little Clay lick, which heads in Hopewell township and flows through the corner of Franklin; and'by Big Clay lick, which has its source near the line of Hopewell, running about five miles through Franklin. The bottom lands along these streams are very fertile, and the lands generally, though someplace soon after authority

The townships around Franklin were all settled before it, except Hopewell - Madison in 1798, Licking in 1801, Bowling Green in 1802, and Newark, which It, 1800. 'The first settlers within the territory which now consti corners with in tutes Franklin township were George Ernst, John and Jacob Switzer, who came in the spring of 1805, the first-named from the Shenandoah valley, and the two latter from the "Glades," in Pennsylyania. Mr. John Feasel came in the autumn of the same year, also from the Shenandoah valley. Siglar came to Licking township in 1805, Maryland, and on the first day of March, His son, William, In 1808 ploneers, who

John from 1807, moved into this township. then a mere lad, accompanied Mr. John Hull joined _ these were further reinforced in 1809 by Mr. Hugh Scott, Rev. J. W. Patterson, Isaiah Hoskinson, and sa) - inn: A Mr. Fulton came, meanwhile, who taught the first school in the township, in a building within the circle of this first settlement.

Feasel, had the longest residence in this township, having been brought here in 1805; and Mr. William Siglar, the next longest, or since 1807.

Mr. John Wilkin, Michael: Fry, as well as Uriah Huli and a few others, settled in this township in and before the year 1812, when the township was organized and named, in honor of the great American philosopher, Benjamin Franklin.

dam. It has no stores, no post offices, no grogshops, no manufactories. 'The people are almost wholly given to agriculture, and to the quiet, honest, successful pursuit of their avocation, and have attained to a good degree of equality in pecuniary circumstances. 'The people are sober, industrious, frugal, hospitable, and give no countenance or encouragement to vagabonds, demagogues, busy-bodies in other people's matters, to the idle, or lazy, to loafers, vagrants, horse-jockies or speculators, professional office-seekers, note-shavers, whiskey-drink- ers, nor, indeed, any who are engaged in vicious and demoralizing pursuits. It is literally and preeminently a rural township, in which the rural virtues prevail. During the seventy-five years that have elapsed since the first settlement of the township, they have had only four county officers. The late Henry Burner was county commissioner, Mr. Anthony Pitzer county surveyor, Stephen Hoskinson.commissioner, and Benjamin Brownfield a member of the legislature. 'he township has probably furnished as few representatives for the The National road runs along the southern boundary of Franklin, being mainly in Bowling Green, but in several places running a little into Franklin, as at Amsterdam, and for some distance east of it. The Flint ridge slopes off nearly a mile from Hopewell into Franklin, striking it near the middle of its eastern boundary, making that portion of the township, to the extent of a mile in width, unusually hilly, or somewhat mountainous in its

Scott, one of the early and enterprising pioneers of the township, who discovered, upon his land, a deposit of iron ore, which he mined, and marketed by hauling it to the Granville furnace. ~ It was understood generally, to have been attended with rather ill success, but whether the enterprise terminated because of the distance between the ore and the furnace, and consequent expense of or whether the deposit was supply ceased, or for other reasons is not remembered. If, therefore, the township has any mineral wealth, it is, as yet, undeveloped.

Schools were early organized, and educational matters in the township have kept pace with those of other townships in the county. It is divided into six school districts in which good houses are erected. 'There is also one fractional district in the southern part.

The first religious society started in the township was the Methodist society, which now worships in Ellis chapel. It was organized at the house of John Siglar, in 1809, or a year later,

Among the early time ministers of the society were Ralph Lotspeitch, James Quinn, Jesse Stone- 'man, Levi Shinn, brother to Asa, Isaac Quinn, David Young, Michael Ellis, Charles Waddle, Mr. McElroy, Noah Fidlar, Martin Fate, John McMahon, C. Springer, Alexander McCracken, Leroy Swormsted, and Jacob Young.

The Lutherans organized the second church in Franklin township. This is the pioneer Lutheran church in Licking county, and the Rev. Andrew Henkle, Rev. Peter Schmucker, Rev. Charles Henkle, and Rev. Amos Bartholomew, were the pioneer Lutheran preachers. The first named organized the Lutheran church in this township, in the autumn of 1817, having previously visited and preached to the people in that neighborhood a few times. 'The settlers were, for the most part, from the Shenandoah valley, Virginia, and had been trained in the Lutheran faith aud doctrines.

George Ernst, Daniel Motherspaw, John Feasel, Henry Burner, Jacob Wilkins, Jacob Row, the family of John Wilkin deceased, and a few others, with the families of the foregoing, patronized the enterprise of Mr. Henkle, and soon after 'the organization of the society they erected a hewed-log structure of small dimensions, which answered the double purpose of church and school-house. Rev. Andrew Henkle's father, Rev. Paul Henkle, a well known Lutheran minister in the Shenandoah valley, and the successor of the distinguished Rev. General Peter Muhlenberg, of revolutionary fame and memory, had been the religious instructor of some of these families, and of their fathers and mothers. They, therefore, readily and joyfully embraced the opportunity presented of having the Gospel preached to them statedly, by a minister of their own faith, and that, too, by the son of the pastor of their parents. Sometime previous Rey. Andrew Henkle had taken charge of the Lutheran church in Somerset, Perry county, and while living there, he, in 1817, organized this church in Franklin, and immediately thereafter was elected pastor, and remained such until 1824, when he resigned.

out a settled minister about two years, but its pulpit was supplied with considerable regularity by Rev. Peter Schmucker, of Newark, then engaged in secular pursuits, but who answered the calls for ministerial services on the Sabbath; and by Rev. Charles Henkle, of Somerset, a brother of Andrew, who had, at that time, churches in Perry county.

The Shenandoah valley was very prolific in Lutherans and Lutheran ministers. Rev. Peter Muhlenberg was, until 1776, the principal Lutheran minister in that valley, and was, moreover, the son of the founder of the Lutheran church in the United States. In 1776, soon after Tord Dunmore's treachery to the colony of Virginia became manifest, being then in charge of the Lutheran church at Woodstock, he abandoned his pulpit and took the field as a regimental officer of the Virginia line.

Rey. Paul Henkle, father of Andrew and Charles, entered the Shenandoah valley before the close of the last century, and preached there many years. He reached a great age, and continued his ministrations in the pulpit to near the close of his life. He had a large family of sons, all of whom, probably, entered the Lutheran ministry in the Shenandoah valley, except one. Those now remembered were David, Paul, Andrew, Charles and Ambrose, making, with the father, six in all.

The father of Rey. Peter Schmucker emigrated to this country, and settled in the Shenandoah valley near the commencement of the present Three of his sons, George, Nicholas and Peter, there entered the Lutheran ministry.

Nicholas ministered to the same congregation, and from the same pulpit, for a generation at least, which Rey. Peter Muhlenberg had left when he entered the army. 'The two brothers of Nicholas also preached in the different Lutheran churches of the valley. Rey. 5. 5. Schmucker and his son, Rey. S. M. Schmucker, who were son and grandson of George; and Rev. George Schmucker, son of Nicholas, also making six in all, had each charge of JLuthean churches in the valley, which, in the aggregate, ran through a period of many years. Ministrations from preachers to these Shenandoah valley Christian vivid impressions of old-time religious services to their minds, and could not well-have been otherwise than mutually interesting. Their voices and the voices of those bearing their names, had been heard by these people long before, and here they felt that they were not strangers.

In the fall of 1826, Rev. Amos Bartholomew was called to the church as its pastor, and remained about eleven years. After remaining vacant about a year, Rev. J. Manning became regular pastor, in which capacity he served the church nearly eight years; meanwhile the church edifice, commenced during the pastorate of Mr. Bartholomew, was completed, and has since been occupied. It is neat and commodious. After remaining vacant two years, Rev. Mr. Richart became pastor, and remained two years. He was succeeded in a short time by Rev. G. W. Shafer, who continued the settled minister several years. After the resignation of Mr. Shafer, the pulpit was supplied about one year by Rev. D. F. Phillips, and then by Rev. William M. Gilbreath for two years. The latter was succeeded by his brother, Rev. J. L. Gilbreath, in 1854.

The third, last formed, and only other religious society in this township, is the Christian Union church, organized during the progress of the late Rebellion. It was composed, principally, of those Methodists who held their membership at Ellis chapel, in Franklin, and at Spencer chapel, in Hopewell townships, who did not approve of the attitude of the Methodist Episcopal church on slavery, the war, and collateral questions, or who disapproved of the introduction of those secular matters into the pulpit.

They erected a neat, substantial church near the township line between Franklin and Hopewell. A Sabbath school is connected with the church, ° Revs. Benjamin Green and -W. Henslee for some years after the organization of the church occupied its pulpit. .

In this connection it will be interesting to religious people in the township to know what Mr. Isaac Smucker says in his 'Recollections of 1825," regarding the first camp meeting he ever attended, and which was in this township:

'A few days after my arrival here, in 1825, I attended a camp meeting held in Franklin township, not far from the large stone mound, some eight miles from Newark. 'The meeting was held in a pleasant and somewhat romantic locality, near the western termination of the Flint ridge. The weather was de-_ lightful, the preaching good, and the surrounding and incidents of the meeting had a flavor of freshness and novelty about them that rendered the occasion one decidedly enjoyable.

''A tall, slender, erect, long-visaged, grave old man, with elongated hair, that had passed into the last stage of silver-grey hue, occupied himself conspicuously as chief singer of the oecasion - the venerable leader in the musical department of the devotional exercises. His name was Siglar, I understood, and he sung with spirit, energy and much power of voice. The great congregation joined him and they made the welkin ring sonoreusly while singing those fine old Methodist camp meeting hymns. The multitude gathered for worship from all the regions round about in these ancient groves, were greatly moved, yea! thrilled by the inspiring notes of the melodious minstrelsy. The reverberations of those sacred songs, as sung by a thousand voices in the spirited, natural, unartistic style of our primitive settlers, in those grand old woods, gave zest to the enjoyment of the interesting occasion, and the scenes and incidents thereof are numbered among the memories to be cherished in the hereafter.

'Rey, Zerah H. Coston was the only preacher presert whose name I now remember. J had heard him preach a sermon a short time before, in front of the old jail, for the benefit of Peter Dimond, then under sentence of death. I think, however, that Judge Fidlar, whom I heard perform a similar service for Dimond, was also present, though I am not certain. This was my first appearance at a Methodist camp meeting, but not my last. I attended one held near Chatham, nearly fifty years ago, whcre I heard Rev. L. L. Hamlin preach his celebrated sermon from the text - ''Ye are my witnesses saith the Lord!' Ihad heard him preach it once before, and it was worth repeating. Few men had a more attractive style of pul-' pit oratory than he. [also attended one on the Flint ridge, more than forty-five years ago, conducted by our well known pioneer veteran, the Rev. C. Springer, and another a few years later, held near Elizabethtown, under the same management. I have attended others later, and I confess to a partiality by way of variety, fer the old style of camp meeting oratory - the pulpit in the wilderness, as we had it in the days of "Auld lang syne.