Stark County, Ohio - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 25 of those read), 1881

AT a meeting of the Board of Commissioners of Stark County, on the 7ih day of December, 1813, it was " ordered that the tenth township of the ninth range be, and the sa '. e is hereby made known as a separate and distinct township Ijy the name of Perry. The inhabitants of said new township will meet at the house of Samuel Patton, in Kendal, on the last Saturday in February, and proceed to elect township officers."

From the above it will be seen that the township took its name from Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, the hero of Lake Erie in the war of 1812. The battle at Putin-Bay had been fought but about three months previous to the above order, and as the success of American arms in that liattle had saved the frontier settlements from being overrun I13' the British and Indians, the naming of the first township that was organized in the county, after the battle, was a fit recognition of the benefits which accrued to the pioneer settlers of the exposed region. Comparatively few settlements had been made on what was known as the " New Purchase, " which was the territor3' l3ing west of the Tuscarawas Branch of the Muskingum, in what is now known as the townships of Sugar Creek, Jackson and Lawrence. West of the Tuscarawas River in Stark (Jounty, no organization had been made prior to 1810, nor in Wa3'ne prior to 1812. In 1810, the township of Tuscarawas had been organized and its first census sliowed 145 inhabitants of all ages. South of the forty-first parallel of latitude.

the lands were known as Congress lands to distinguish them from the Western Reserve, Now Connecticut and the Fire lands as that portion lying nortli of the forty-lirst parallel was called. Much of the land now iiichidcd in the townships of Bethlehem, I'erry, Jackson, Lawrence and Franklin, in the county of Summit, was surveyeil b^- Ebenezer Ruckingham in the year ISOO, and a man of the name of Carpenter. The Tuscarawas was then the boundary line between the United States and the Indians, which was the reason why the balance of these townships was not surveyed at the same time. Mr. Buckingham was afterward one of the Commissioners of the Canal Fund of Ohio, and lived many years at Zanesville, where he died, closing a long, active and useful life. As already noticed, I'errj' is called Township 10 of the ninth Range. In forming the ranges, the I'nited States began on the base of the Western Reserve, at the east line of the State, or the base line of the Western Reserve, or latitude forty-one degrees north, and every six miles west was a range, numbering from east to west. The townships on the east side, or first range, counted from the Ohio River north to the base line oi the Reserve.

Pursuant to the order of the Commissioners, the voters of Perry Township met in Kendal, now the Fourth Ward of the city of Massillon, on the last Saturda}' in February, 1814, and elected the township officers, but who were elected to the particular otlices, cannot be ascertained, as no person is now living who was present at the election, nor is there a record to be found of an earlier date than 1825. Who were the first Trustees, Treasurer and Clerk, Supervisors, Fence Viewers and Overseers of the Poor and their succes.sors for the first eleven j-ears cannot be stated with entire certaintj-

Among the residents of the township at the date of its organization, were Jacob Bahr\ey, John Waggoner. I'hilip Jacoby, (Jeorge Amick, Frederick Stump, Roliert Barr, Michael Rose. Stephen Shorb, William Armstrong, William McCaughe3', James McCaughey, Paul Beard, Ceorge Miller. Jonathan Neely, Abraham Uolladay and Daniel Hitter, all of whom with others were residents of the south end of the township. In Kendal and in the immediate neighborhood were William Henry, already mentioned. Thomas Rotch. Charles Collin, Zaccheus

Stanton, Moses Gleason, John Hendley, Abel Strong, Benjamin Franklin Coleman, Rowlaml Coleman, Alexander Skinner, Charles K. Skinner, Joseph Morton and Thomas Rotch, who resided at Spring Hill, the present residence of Hon, A. C. Wales ; John Hall, Arvine Wales, Ephraiin Chidester, Royd J. Mercer, Edward Nelson, John Bowman, Aaron (Ihapman, Ambrose Chapman, Austin Allen, Richard Whaley, John Shobe, a German, who Ijuilt a powder-mill on the south side of Sippo Creek, about twenty rods east of the llouring-mill of iMessrs. Warwick & Justus in the First Ward of the cit^- of Massillon. The powder-mill, as lemembered by the writer, was a log building, in one end of which old John slept with kegs of powder piled up around his bed, and around his fire, wooden trays of the explosive material were arranged for drying. He never feared a blow-up except from lightning ; on the appearance of a thunder storm, he was sure to vacate his mill and dwelling until the storm was over and danger Ironi lightning had disappeared. Among the prominent of the early settlers in 1812, and who.se infiuence tended to lay brond and deep the foundations of social oriler in Perry Township, were Thomas Rotch and his wife, Charitj' Rotch, members of the Society of Friends, natives of New Bedford, Mass., who mo\e<l from there to Hartford, Conn., and from Hartford to Stark County. With him came Arvine Wales and the late Charles K. Skinner, who with Mr. Wales became permanently identified with the growth of the township, and, as will be seen hereafter, with the now city of Massillon. Thomas and Charity Rotch were prominent members of the Society of Friends, both being recommended ministers according to the discipline of the society. The village of Kendal was laid out l)y Thomas Rotch, in 1811, who named it after a prominent manufacturing town in the West of England. On laying out the village, Mr. Rotch sought at once to utilize the water-power of Sippo Creek, the principal outlet of Sippo Lake, in the northeastern part of the township, by l)uilding a woolen factory and saw-mill, both of which have long since gone to decay. Mr. Rotch's policj' was not such as tended to advance the growth of his village, nor was the condition ol' the new country favorable. The immigration was entirely agricultural. A land otliee was established at Canton, of which Col. Gibson and Col. John

On the 18th of June, 1812, war was declared against Great Britain by the United States, which exposed the frontier settlements to incursions of the British and Indians, especially after Hull's surrender, when many of the settlers of the new country went back to their former homes. The paralysis of all sorts of business which followed the declaration of war can hardly be realized at this late period, and which continued many years, and retarded improvements of all kinds. At the close of the war, in 1814, the General Assembly sought to relieve the embarrassment in which all sorts of business was plunged by chartering banks, which went into operation without capital, but soon suspended operations, and nowhere was the embarrassment of the country greater than in the Tuscarawas Valley. There was no surplus of provisions of any kind for many years, and when the surplus came wheat sold for 25 cents per Inishel, when it would sell at all, as late as 182ti, and all cereals proportionallj* low, potatoes at twelve and a half cents, while salt commanded at one time $3 per bushel of fift}'- six pounds.

On the 14th of the ninth month, in 1823, Thomas Rotch died at Mount Pleasant, in Jefferson County, while attending the Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends (Quakers), and was buried there ; he was born at New Bedford, Mass., on the 13th of the seventh month, 1767, consequently was but little more than fiftj--sis years of age ; he is well remembered by the writer as a man of fine presence and great shrewdness in all business matters, and, as all Quakers did and do, bore faithful testimony against human slaver}'. He was frequently called on to protect the fugitive slave on his flight to Canada, and never was known to let the call pass unheeded. A single instance will illustrate his devotion to his principles on that subject, as well as his courage. In the spring of the year 1820, a woman with two children called at his residence and satisfied him that they were fugitive slaves ; he at once provided them with a place of safety in the second story of a spring house almost adjoining his residence. In the morning of the following day, immediately after breakfast, a couple of strangers on horseback rode up to the door and inquired if Mr. Rotch lived there, and, on being answered in the affirmative, commenced to make their business known, which was that of slave- hunters, one being known as a man who was in the habit of aiding slaves to escape, advising them what route to take, then following them for the reward ottered by their masters ; the name of De Camp, the slavecatcher, had become as familiar as household words. Thomas heard him very patiently describe the woman and children, and say that he had traced them to his (Thomas') residence, and produced a warrant for their seizure issued under the act of Congress of 1793, and supposed his work was done - that, the Quakers being a law-abiding people, the mother and children would be at once delivered.

After he had exhausted his vocabulary, Thomas said, Dost thou think thou can take the woman and her children here if thou canst find them ?"'

" Well, " said Thomas, thou maj- be mistaken. Thou hast not found them yet, and shouldst thou find them, thou might have trouble to take them."

The strangers had not been invited into the house, and while the dialogue was going on between Thomas and him having the warrant, the farm hands, of whom Thomas kept three or four, gathered around, and seeing such a crowd, the strangers began to look at each other and evinced alarm, which Thomas was not slow to notice, and, breaking a momentary silence, said to the person having the warrant.

" I do," answered De Camp, for it was he, and was betraying fear of bodily harm, and inquired, " Have you any business with me ? M3' name is De Camp." By this time, the men of Thomas' household, himself included, had formed a sort of circle around the slave-catchers. Thomas replied with the utmost coolness,

De Camp and his confrere concluded it would be best to beat a retreat, which they did with out delay. On reaching their horses, they sprang into their saddles and left the Spring Hill farm and its Quaker occupants, and never again called there for human chattels. The home of Thomas and Charity Rotcli, like that of the "village preaclier's modest mansion "' at " sweet Aul)urn.'

There are few now who remember Thomas and Charity Rotc-h. Those who, in memorj-'s waste, " can bring up the reminiscences of the long-inurned, long-forgotten, long-gone past, will cherish their memory in great kindness, Thomas Rotch died in the prime of life. Could he have lived another decade and participated in the great changes in the Tuscarawas Valle}', with his wealth and enterprise, the history of Perr}- Township would have borne on its pages a record of improvements beyond what is shown even now by the enterprising pioneers who succeeded him, and who gave lavishly of time and money in the development of the resources of our favored township.

It is not, however, to the enterprising capitalist alone that credit should bo given for the wonderful development that Perry Township exhibited in the decennial period from 1820 to 181-50. It is to the men who hewed down the forest and ran the plowshare beam deep through the, until then, unbroken sward. They came with strong arms and willing hearts, to find a new home and to found a new empire. The harvest yielded to their sickle, and their posterity and successors arc their heritors. With them came also another class of men, also pioneers, wlio contributed their share toward developing " the new country.' Thcj- were just in advance of the pernlanent settlers, and stayed until the charms of forest life overcame the desire to remain where progress toward political and social organization got in the advance. Of that class was Massuin Metcalf, who came in 1810 and remained, a few years, when he left, saying, " The country is too thickly settleil ; I must go where I cannot see the smoke of my neighbor's chimney, nor hear his dog bark, " and he went to parts unknown.

Among the hardy pioneer settlers, and who were among the earliest to build their cabins, and whose doors were always open to the stranger, were the Castleman brothers ; their niimes were John, Ilenrv, Richard and David, with their brother-in-law. Jacob Ross. Connected with them by marriage was a familj- by the name of Meek. Fond of the chase, not a deer or bear escaped their rifles when they started for game. The last wolf that was killed in the neighborhood north of .Massillon was brought down by the interring rifle of one of the Castleman brothers. Ross claimed that In; was the first white child born west of the Ohio River. He that as it may, a better type of manhood than Jake Ross was rarely found among the hardy pioneers of that day. Excepting John Castleman. all the families left Stark County soon after the organization of Perry Township. John was a citizen of Kendal and Massillon until his death, which was occasioned by a tree falling upon hiin, from which he lingered, a helpless cripple, for many 3ears, Ilis wife, Margaret Meek, survived him until a few years since, and lived to a good old age. a fine type of the women who sought homos with their families in the trackless forests of the Western country. At her death, she left four children - Mrs, Lyon, of Cleveland, and George and William Castleman and Mrs. Roof (since deceased), of ^lassilon.

In 1813 and 1814. before and after the organization of the township, immigration increased beyond any former period, and continued to increase, especially when the attention of the Legislature was turned to internal improvcinonts. Land, however, did not rise in value until 183(1, and within the personal knowledge of the writer, 1,000 acres of ' the ]jlaius " in the south end of Perry Township sold for S4.2.") per acre ; the sale was made in 1824 by Capt. Mayhcw Folger to Mr. William R. Dickinson, of Steubenville, and paid for in cloth manufacturi^d at the '- Steubenville Factory, ' of which Messrs. Belzaleel Wells, one of the framers of the Constitution of Ohio, of 1802, and Mr, Dickinson were proprietors.

In the same year first above mentioned, among the "new comers,'' were Capt, Mayhew Folgor and his wife Slary, and their family, his brother-in-law, Thomas Cottin, whose wife, Anna CoHin, was a sister of Capt, Folger, and who took up by original entry and obtained by purchase the lands sold to Mr. Dickinson, above referred to. The newness of the country, and its social condition being so different from anything that Thomas Coffin and his wife, who, with Capt. Folger and his wife, were natives of the Island of Nantucket, Mass., had ever seen, discouraged Thomas and he sold his interest in the Western lands to Capt. Folger, who remained at Kendal until February, 1828, when he removed to Massillon. During the year 1813. also came Bradford Kellogg and rented the building on Lot No. 2 in Kendal, then owned by Arvine Wales. He and his two sons opened a brick yard immediately south of, near the extreme east end of, now North street, and which was afterward known as the Free Bridge Road, until Massillon and Kendal were united, and North street was extended to its present eastern terminus. At that brick yard were made the first l^ricks manufactured west of Canton. Kellogg and his sons came from Hudson, in I'ortagc County, and brought the first oxen driven under the yoke in the township, and which were nsed for tramping the cla3' out of which the bricks were made for Alexander Skinner, Esq., who erected the first brick house in the township, and which was the first west of Cantim. The walls of the house were laid by Calvin Hobart and Peter Humphrey ; the building now stands on Front street in Ken<lal. where for sixty-five years it has stood a proud monument of the skill and integrity of the builders, and is a better piece ol work, even now, than much of the brick-work built a half a centurj' since. Messrs. Hobart and Humphrey removed to Wooster in 1817, where the)- remained until 1827. when Hobart returned to Massillon and built one of the first brick houses that was built there, and was finally drowned in the canal on the night of July 4, 1833. The brick house on F>ont street is now owned and occupied by citizen Anton Vogt, and bids fair to stand the storms of many years. Mr. Skinner removed to Loudonville, then Richland County, and died there. At the close of 1813 and commencement of 1814, and during the latter year, the population of the township increased largelj'. and the increase was of valuable citizens, among whom were Jonathan Winter, his wife Nancy, son Abner and family, and daughters Sarah and Catharine. Uncle Jonathan, as he was familiarly called, was a Quaker, had been a soldier in the war of the Revolu tion, and was fond of " shouldering his cane and showing how fields were won." He drew a pension, but escaped a wound on the battlefield. Prominent among tiie arrivals that year were Dr. William Gardner, from Albany, State of New York, the first physician in the township ; from here he removed to Norwalk, Huron County, remained there a few years and then returned to Stark County and located in Canton, where he died in 1833. Dr. Gardner was prominent as a physician, and earnest in his convictions, rarely yielding when once having formed an opinion ; also, about the time of Dr. Gardner's arrival, came John C. McCoy, from the city of Baltimore, a journeyman tailor, afterward well known in the Pittsburgh Methodist Conference as Rev. J. V. McCoy, a useful and popular preacher ; from here lie removed to Loudonville, Ashland Co., Ohio, thence to Washington County, thence to Athens County, where he died a few years ago, honored and respected as a Christian gentleman. In the early part of 1814, came Thomas A. Drayton, afterward a resident of Canton, and Hosea W. Tinker, all useful mechanics, who are pleasantly remembered by the few who yet remain to furnish items for these sketches. About the time of the organization of the township, a family known as the Andrews family came into the township, consisting of the father, Richard, Eve, the mother, and five sons, Daniel, Adam, Charles, David and Richard ; the old man entered the fractional section upon which now stands the manufacturing establishment of Russell & Co., the station house of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway, and the other l)uildings of that corporation, the respective residences of Mrs. Julia Jarvis, Herman Schreiber and all others on South Erie street below the railway, all of which went for intoxicating liquors, which were drank in the family.

Richard Andrews had a son-in-law, John Wolf, who, with two sons, Richard and Samuel, are sleeping their last sleep in drunkards' graves. Among the chattels brought from Maryland bj' the Andrews family was a stalwart negro, known as Black Jack, John Tibbs being his real name. On the family leaving Hagerstown thej' were about to sell Jack, and were offered $550 for him, but upon his promising to stay by and support the old folks as long as they lived, they brought him to Ohio. Jack soon learned, however, that the old Constitution contained a clause in the Bill of Rights prohibiting slavery, and he told his old master and mistres.s that he would fulfill his part of the bargain, but he would not work to support the drunk- en sons, and left them and lived afterward in Jackson T<)\vnshi|>. where he married, earned a fann, suhl it, moved into jjawrcnce, where he pureliased another farm, ami remained until the passage of the Fugitive Slave law, when he went to Canada and ended his days, fearing that some remote heir of tlie Andrews family might come from Maryland ami claini him.

t'p to the elose of 1814, few seltlciiients had l)een made in the township west of the Tuscarawas River. On the fractional section west and opposite the residence of Mrs. Jarvis. now owned bv the heirs of the late Peter Runser, was located a sturdy Irish pioneer, William Whitcraft ; he. however, sold out and removed to Lawrence Township. He was an energetic citizen and at his death left a worthy family. He sold to Ilczekiah Bull, of Hartford, t'onu.. who settled on the land and remained until 1820, when he died.

Mr. Bull was a Democrat of the New Hnglnnd Jeffersonian type, thoroughly imbued witli an intense dislike to the Federal p:irty. the Hartford Convention and New Knglanil politics in their length and breadth. He was exceeding!}' earnest in advocating and defending the war of 1812. and the administration of President Madison. He was a kind neighbor and genial gentleman in his social intercourse. In point of culture, he and his family were among the first in the then new and really wild region. A'ery soon after his arri\al here, two of his daughters were married, Hetty, to Alexander Skinner, Es<i., brother of the late Hon. C. K. Skinner, and Hoyland to Thomas Taylor, Esq.. a son of whom. .\. A. Taylor, Esq.. is the owner of the extensive flouring-mill on Erie street, in Massillon. .Mrs. Bull died a short time after lur husband, and the family, sons and daughters, removed to Loudonville, where all excepting Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. Sheldon died. Hon. John W. Bull, a grandson, a member of the present Legislature, from Ashland County, resides in Loudonville, and is alwaj-s ready to extend a generous hospitalit}' to his many friends. Durmg the years 1812-14, the supply of provisions was not efpial to the demand, and (,'harles K. Skinner. Edward Nelson and Charles Collin, who was a Nantucket ship carpenter, built a boat and went to Coshocton, where corn was plentj-, the Muskingum bottoms alwaj-s yielding an abundance, and brought several loads, which sold readily for $2 per bushel. Excepting Charles CotHn. none of them knew much in regard to the management of a boat, and on one occasion coming up, the}' struck on the Cedar Ripple, a few miles below where Massillon now is. and came near losing boat and cargo.

The first religious society organized west of Canton in Stark (,'ounty was the - Kendal Preparative .Meeting of the Society of Friends, ' their .Monthly Meeting being at .Marlborough. Quarterly Meeting at Salem, and the Yearly Meeting being held at Mount Pleasant, Jefterson County. It is supposed that all these organizations existed as early as 181:!. The principal meml)ers of Kendal Preparative .Meeting were Isaac Bowman, Richant Williams, Zaccheus Stanton, Charles Cotlhi. Thomas liotcli. Mayhew Folger. Joseph Hobson, Jonathan Michener. .Mathew Macy. a brother-in-law of Charles Coffin, Thomas Coffin, Mieajah Macy and others, all of whom, with a single exception, were heads of families. Thomas Coffin could hardly be called a member of that meeting, as he returneil to I'hiladelphia : his wife, a sister of Ma>hew Folger and mother of the late Lueretia Mott. surviveil him thirty years. The influence of that little Quaker meeting was strongly felt in the community. So far as any religious sentiment was recognized, they were in the majority. The}' were first to erect a place for meeting for worship, called by them a meeting house," which, when erected, they opened for a school, and it shouUl be said of them, they bore, with liberty and law, the Bible in their train." Next to them and about the same time, or shortly after, came the Methodists to Kendal, as will be seen by the following extract of a letter from the late Rev. Adam Poe, I). I). It will also be seen that the labors of the Methodists were mainly on the west side of the river until the peri(xl above referred to.

Dr. I'oe says : " At a session of the Western Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Cluirch, held at a chapel in Shelby County. Ky., November 1. 1810, Rev. James Dixon was appointed to Tuscarawas Circuit in the Muskingum District ; Rev. James Quinn, Presiding Klder. The Tuscarawas Circuit then embraced all the country along the Tu.scarawas River from New I'ortage to Coshocton, taking in the new settlements on both sides of the river. He formed small societies, and only returned seventy-seven members in all that terriz-,s tory at the end of the year. At the next session of the Conference, which was held at Cincinnati, October 1, 1811, Rev. William Mitchell was appointed to the Circuit. Rev. James Qninn, Presiding Elder. Mr. Mitchell reported one hundred and forty-two members at the close of his year. I am not sure whether 1 >ixon formed a society in Tuscarawas Township, Imt during the winter of 1811-12. Mitchell organized a societj- at the house of Peter John- .son, Esq., and preached to them regularly every two weeks, since which there has always been a Methodist society in the township. The Western Conference was divided in 1812, and the Ohio Conference formed, which held its first session in Chillicothe, October 1, 1812. At this Conference, David Young was appointed Presiding Elder of the Muskingum District, and John Somerville was appointed to Tuscarawas Circuit, and seems to have had considerable success, for he returned four hundred and ninety-one members. During this year, m}' first personal acquaintance with the societj' at Johnson's commenced, and during the ensuing summer, the meetings were removed to the house of Joseph Poyser. This was, I think, the first regularl}- organized religious society in the township.

" At the second session of the Ohio Conference, which was held at Steubenville Septeml)er 1. 1813, Rev. John Graham was appointed to Tuscarawas Circuit. At the next session, held at Cincinnati September 8, 1814, Rev. John Cord was appointed to that circuit. At the next session, which was held at Lebanon, Ohio, September 14, 1815, Rev. Curtis Goddard was appointed to the circuit. The next session of the Conference vifas held at Louisville, Kj., and Rev. Archibald Mcllroy was appointed to the circuit, the societ}' meeting at Joseph Poyser's. now the residence of John Christman, Esq. At the next session of the Conference, held at Zanesville, Ohio, September 3, 1817, Rev. James McMahon was appointed to the Tuscarawas Circuit. At the close of tlie year, he reported 41 1 members. This venerable gentleman is still living and active in the ministry. His address is Chesterville, Morrow Co., Ohio. He could probably give j-ou a more minute historv of the society than I can. Peter Johnson and Joseph Poyser are both dead. As the regular preaching, during this period, was at both their houses, if living they no donbt could be more particular in the history of the societ}' meetings there. Rev. John C. McCoy became a resident in Kendal, I think in 1813 or 1814 ; and, there being no Methodist society there, he joined in Tuscarawas Township. His address is Marietta, Ohio. Wesley Hatton, still a resident of Tuscarawas Township, was also among the early members of the society. Also Miss Catharine Thacker, now Mrs. Nathan Eldredge. Mr. Thomas Eldridge, an uncle of Nathan, was likewise an earl}' and active member of the society. I think he is still living, but do not know his present address."

The letter from which the foregoing extract was taken was written July 28, 1853. Dr. Poe was correct as to the death of Peter Johnson. He was well known to the writer, as was Poyser, who lived, until within a few j'ears pa.st, and died in Canton. All the other persons named by Dr. Poe, except Mrs. Eldredge, have been dead many years. She now lives with her nephew, William Motfit, Esq., about three miles southwest from Massillon, on the Millersburg road.

The Ohio Conference included within its boundaries the entire State of Ohio, and much more. The Muskingum District remained in that Conference until 1824, when the General Conference erected the old Pittsburgh Conference, so affectionately remembered b}' all the old Methodists in the valley of the Tuscarawas, which remained as erected by the Conference of 1824 until the year 1848, when it was so changed as to put Perry Township into the North Ohio Conference, where it remained until 1856, when the Pittsburgh Conference was restored to its original boundaries. The General Conference of 187G changed the map of the Conference so as to bound it on the east by the State Line, between the States of Ohio and Pennsylvania, and Ohio and Virginia. The first Methodist preaching in Perry Township, east of the Tuscarawas River, was by Josiah Foster, preacher on the circuit, and as Presiding Elder of the Muskingum District he preached at the house of Rev. J. C. McCoy, in Kendal, once in five or six weeks, and as early as 181G. During the succeeding six years, it is impossible to learn with certainty in whose charge the Muskingum District and Tuscarawas Circuit were. In 1822, before the erecting of the Pittsburgh Conference, Thomas R. Ruckle, a young Irishman, was appointed to the circuit, and came around once in five weelts, preactiing in tlie schoolroom in Kendal, sciiool tlien being in tlie east wing of wliat is called the '- L " house, a building built by Kphraini Chidester, grandfather of Dr. Ephraim Chidester, of Massillon. The school was then taught by the late Dr. B. Michener, whose recent death in Iowa at the age of eighty was generally noticed in the public journals. The Doctor being then a Quaker, in unity with the society, and disposed to controversy, and lle\'. Mr. Ruckle being set in defense of the Gospel," soon got up a debate on paper, which was kept up for a long time, and finally tiled out bj- consent of the disputants themselves. The Methodists had no place for meeting at this period ; their leader in everything pertaining to the church. John C. JMcCoy, had married a young lady bj- the name of Coml}- and removed to Loudonville, and Methodism in Ferry Township made little progress, increasing, however, a little from year to year, and always holding its gains until it acquired strength enough to unite with the Freemasons in 1840, to have a place known as the Methodist Episcopal Church of Massillon, and which is fully noticed in the sketch of that city.

Among the early Presbyterians who settled in the township were John and Garrett Cruson. two brothers, and their families, their sister, Mrs. Anna Burhans. Ephraim Chidester. Daniel Myers and his familv, Austin Allen, Boyd J. Meicer, and two or three other families in different parts of the township, but no organization in the way of a church was had until after the now city of Massillon was laid out. and which will be noticed in its proper place.

The tirst thing almost that was done by Thomas Botch on laying out and recording the plat of the village of Kendal, was to get a post otlice established on the great east-and-west route through the State, previous to which Canton was the post ofHce for all the region roundabout. Thomas was appointed Postmaster, and John C. McCoy his deputy, as the Postmaster lived a mile out of town. McCoy withdrew from the ortice. and Matthew Macy was appointed Deputy, or, as that officer was called. Assistant Postmaster, and held the place until the death of Thomas Rotch. when he was appointed Postmaster, and held the office until it was discontinued in 1829. Matthew Macy was a man of rare integrity and rare business qualifications. A native of the island of Nantucket, Mass.. he, as was common, indeed it was the rule, went to sea on board a whale ship bound to the Pacific Ocean, but getting crippled by a fall he left the ship he went out in and returned in a homeward bound vessel, arriving at Nantucket soon after the commencement of the war of 1812. The ship he went out in was captured by a British cruiser, so that he lost his share of the cargo. Finding no emplo3ment at home in consequence of his crippled condition (from which he never recovered), he came to Ohio and was a clerk in Thomas Botch's store, taught school, was with Arvine Wales, an ailministrator who settled Botch's estate after his death, and held various offices of trust. His wife was a daughter of James Austin, a Vermont Quaker, who removed from Montpelier in 1817 to Kendal.

The first blacksmith in the township was Jesse Otis. His shop was in Kendal, and he was ready for business as soon as a shop could be built. The first tanner in the township was Thomas Williams, whose tanyard antl curryingshop were in Kendal, on the north side of State street, which was the great thoroughfare from east to west. Originally, the road from Canton west diverged in a nortwesterly direction on the top of the hill near the Russell farm, running through the farm now owned by the heirs of the late John Yingling. then occupied liy Zaccheus Stanton, and intersecting the cast end of State street, in Kendal, which street it followed to the west end, where it diverged to the southwest until it struck a point now known as the cast end of Cherry street, in Massillon, thence west to the Tuscarawas River, where a toll bridge was built and furnished the only crossing-place on the river in the township, excepting at the high banks " at the northern terminus of Clay street, in the city of Massillon, and at Barr's Fording, three miles south, near where are now the Wormington Coal Mines. The stock in the toll bridge was mainly owned by Judge William Henry, who had purchased the fractional section of land on the west side of the river, and erected the brick house, yet standing there, in which he -- kept store " and lived with his family. As immigration into Stark and Wayne Counties was in excess of any period before or since, the location for business was the best west of Canton or perhaps in the countv. The toll bridge became a most odious mon()pol3', and the people everywhere determined that it should not exist. Their effort was to get a road laid out from the divergence east of the citj' on a straight line west, or as nearl}- so as practicable, to the fording place, the now northern terminus of Clay street, thence, after crossing the river at that fording place, as nearly west as possible, until it should intersect the old Wooster road. This plan, of course, would onlj' answer wlien the river could be forded. It was at once determined to build a free bridge, which was done, and trade was then diverted over the new route, and the old toll bridge went to dec-aj', and is remembered by but few of the present residents of the Tuscarawas Valley. After the free bridge was erected, it was sought to be destroyed by cutting away its principal supports at the eastern end. Tradition says that David Andrews, already referred to in these pages, did the job, for which he received a fiddle, a silver watch and a quart of whisky. The bridge was repaired and served the people for many 3^ears, until an additional straightening of the road from Canton to Wooster made Main street, in Massillon, the great thoroughfare, when the principal crossing of the river was located where it now is.

The first Justice of the Peace in Perry Township was a blacksmith by the name of Francis Smith, the grandfather of citizen George W. Hathaway, of Massillon. Justice Smith moved to Brookfield, in Tuscarawas Township, where he died. He was succeeded by Capt. Nathaniel Ray, a retired shipmaster, from Nantucket, and it may be said of him that he was a -'character." While it was true of him that he had been a shipmaster, his sailing had been confined to coasting from Portland, Me., to the Capes of Florida and New Orleans. He had followed that mode of life until he felt that he, too, ought to join the vast crowd that was seeking a new home, so he came to Kendal. He had an unfortunate habit of mixing whisk3- with his water in considerable quantities, and when under the influence of the mixture, had little control over himself On one occasion, while driving his iron-gray mare before a " Dearborn " wagon, as they were called in those days, a wheel came ofl', and he, considerably under the inflnence of the whisk}- he had drank, dropped the lines and jumped out. As he struck the ground the mare started for home, and got there with what was left of the carriage. As Ray followed, he found the pieces. He had the wheel on his shoulder that dropped from the wagon while he was driving. Meeting one of the neighbors he swore he would kill the mare, but on getting home he compromisetl by simply cutting off her ears, a feat Ray never survived so as to remain at Kendal, so he packed up and went back to Nantucket, got a little ves.sel and resumed his old avocation as master of a coaster, and finally anchored there.

The first store that was opened in Kendal or in the township was opened liy Thomas Rotch ; next to him came William Henry and Gilbertharp Earle, and lastly in Kendal, Isaiah Brown, noticed more particularly in the sketches of Massillon. The embarrassment in all business matters, stagnation of trade, and especially the ruin of commerce upon the ocean, upon which New England subsisted, occasioned by the war of 1812, drove many shipmasters and New England people to the West, and the year 1814 was strongly marked by the increase from that quarter. Among those who came into Perry Township that year were Gilbertharp Earle and his family, Capt. James Duncan, a retired shipmaster from the merchant service, his residence having been at Portsmouth, N. H.. and manj' others. These gentlemen are mentioned particularly because of the important parts they sustained on the historic stage, as did Alexander Johnston, Esq., who came into the township a year or two earlier, and before the township was organized.

Gilbertharp Earle was born June 19, 1772, at Burlington, N. J., and was married at Upper Freehold, Monmouth Co., to Sarah Cook, October 10, 1799 ; he remained at Burlington until

1814, when he removed to Kendal. He en tered at the land office the fractional Section on the west side of the river, known as No. 6, and after merchandising at Kendal and removing to Canton again, where he remained but a year or two, returned to his farm, gave his attention to farming and the dispensing of a generous hospitality that will ever be gratefullj' remembered by all who shared it. The residence of Mr. and Mrs. Earle was a resort for young and old, and all were made happy by the unfailing politeness always kindly tendered. On arriving at Kendal, the family of Mr. and Mrs. Earle consisted of Sarah B., who married Dr. (rardner, by whom she was lol't a widow in 1S38, and moved to Marmar, Wasliiiiirton Co., Ohio, and married Henr}- Fearing, i'lsq. ; slie died on tlic SOtii day of July. l.S7(i; Jolni, wlio died January 8,1855: Tlionias Karle, M. !>.. now living in Brooklyn, N. Y., at the age of seventy- .six ; Hannah, now the wile of Hon. Harlow Cliapin living at Harmar, at the age of seventvfour : Frances, who married (Jen. (Gardner Field, a notice of whose death will be found in the sketch of the city of .^lassillon ; she afterward married Edward ("lark, Esq., of Harmar, and died on the 2Gth day of February, 1879. Gilbertharp Earle. Jr.. horn in February, 1812, and died at his residence near tliis city in September, 1873. Mr. and Mrs. Earle had three children born in Ohio, but one of wiiom survives, Mrs, Rebecca Johnson, widow of the late Hon. Matthew Johnson, member of the Legislature of Ohio in 1837 and 1838 from this county, and 3Iarshal for the Northern District of (Jhio. during the administration of President Bnclianan. Mr. Earle died January it, 1850, at the age of seventy -eight, and Mrs. Earle died at Harmar in 1855, aged sevent}'- iiine ; they led useful and acti\e lives, Mr. Earle having filled important public trusts.

The organization of the townsliip as a political and social organization fell into the hands of men who studied the public weal and carried out praclicall}' views and plans that met the entire approbation of the community. Schools and the means of instruction." as recommended in that grand instrument, the old Constitution of Ohio, were encouraged, a refined social intercourse all o\er the township was establislied, that is affectionately remembered by tlie now old men who survive. In the language of the great British essaj-ist :

When Mr. Duncan left Portsmouth, his objective point was the State of Virginia, that portion now included in West Virginia, and especially Brooke and Ohio ("ounties. At Wheeling, he had friends, Messrs. Jacob Atkinson and Peabody Atkinson, brothers, and a Mr.

Peterson. He remained in those counties for a year or two, and married Miss Eliza T. Vilette, and with the two brothers Atkinson coneluded as a sort of horseback adventure to visit the " Rotch Settlement." Accordingly the three gentlemen started on horseback in the spring and came to Kendal, and stop|)ed at a hotel kept by John Bowman, a Pennsylvania Dutchman, which was the only one in the village, and was the first hotel opened in the township. It soon became known that there were strangers from I\irtsinouth. X. II.. in town, and as there were several New England families already in the village and vicinity, a (Quaker woman, who with her husband, had a year or two before visited Portsmouth, strangers, and received genuine New England hospitality, said to her husband. Thee had better go and call on the strangers ; they may be connected with the families who were so polite to us. and if so, we shoidd at least invite them to dine."

The Quaker head of the family said to his wife, -- I should be glad to invite them at any rate, and if thee thinks thee can make out a dinner for them. I will call on them and invite them for to-morrow." The preliminaries being thus settled, he called on the strangers, had a long talk with them in regard to the county and State of Ohio, its prospects, and invited them to dine ; the invitation was promptly accepted, and after dinner they all rode over a considerable portion of the township, examined the water-power of the Sippo Creek, rode over the grounil plat of the now city of Massillon, and the strangers were favorably impressed ; they went no further west, returned to Wheeling, and Wellsbiirg. Va.. and Mr. Duncan returned shortly afterward and purchased the Estremadura farm, now owned b\' the Kegler heirs, and purchased the quartersection on which the city is. in part, laid out. The purchase was made for the water-power of Sippo Creek, and near where now stands the Masonic Lodge, an<i the merchant fiouring-mill of Isaac N. Dexter. Mr. Duncan erected a Houring-mill and saw-mill, having first erected a dam across the creek, near where East street. Massillon. now crosses the creek. The plac^e was known as Duncan's Mill, as it had no other way of distinginshing it from any other point in the Tuscarawas Valley.

in the township just outside the city limits at the age of ninet^y-six jears, Mrs. llebecca Stafford, her maiden name being Coolt, a sister of Mrs. Earle ; she married Abel Stafford, one of the colony wlio settled in Tuscarawas from Essex County, N. Y., by whom she was left a widow many years sinoe. She is iu the enjoj-- ment of excellent health and bids fair to see the one hundredtli anniversary- of her birthdaj'. Tiie name of Aunt Rebecca Cook sixty years ago, was as familiar as household words." She has life-long been a remarUal)le woman, and her bright intellect makes her liome a pleasant place to visit; her reeol lection of the events of early times is clear.

The stagnation of business, scarcity of mono}- and almost cessation of immigration, commencing soon after the close of the war, seemed to paralyze the energies of every body ; a surplus of agricultural products was always on hand, and no outlet to market ; a general feeling of discouragment pervaded the community ; when land would sell at all, it sold for merely nominal prices, compared with its real value. To get rid of the increasing produce on his hands after the building of his mill, Mr. Duncan erected a distillery, a log liuilding which stood near the corner of Charles and Mill streets, Massillon, the first distiller being Seth Chase, a native of Vermont, who had settled in Tuscarawas Township. As time wore on, Mr. Duncan accumulated a large quantity of whisky, and, in 1822. he determined to load a flat-boat with flour, whisky and potatoes for the New Orleans market. The idea had hardly entered his mind, until he went with all possible haste to (Uiarles CoHin, and contracted for the building of a boat to be launched in the Tuscarawas, and loaded with flour, whisky, potatoes, bacon, and, in short, anything that would sell in Southern market. The boat was built and launched exactl}- where now is the eastern end of the arched stone bridge in Massillon ; the amount of her tonnage is not recollected, nor can it be ascertained. She was built bottom up and turned over into the water with entire success ; her upper works were immediately set up and Hnislied ; a fortunate rise in the river was taken advantage of, teams were emplo^-ed which worked night and day, and with the rise, the boat was loaded, and in the early spring of the year, the '- Walk in the Water," as Mrs. Duncan had named the boat, started on her voyage. Much apprehension was felt lest the dam across the river at Zoar, and Baker's dam at New Philadelphia, should be in the wa}-, but the flood kept up and the dams were crossed in safety.

The Muskingum was reached and being at flood-tide, having the waters of the Tuscarawas and Walhonding to keep it up, Capt. Duncan had company to the (Jhio, Coshocton and Zanesville and other towns on the river being engaged in shipping to New Orleans. No time was lost in reaching Cincinnati. On arriving tliere, Capt. Duncan found the market buoyant for his entire cargo, and sold out boat and cargo at a fine advance, and walked from Cincinnati to Kendal, where he then resided. His success was followed with other and similar ettbrts, none of which, however, were near so successful.

Mr. Duncan's success was only an additional stimulus to greater improvements in the valley, in which all liis fortunes were staked, his ambition for improvement was only restrained b}' his means. On his return from Cincinnati, he and Mr. Skinner immediatel}' formed the partnership of C. K. Skinner & Co., and first put up a carding-machine, picker and the other appliances, simply for carding wool and reducing it to rolls for the spinning-wheel, Mr. Skinner having been bred to the business while in the service of Thomas Rotch, and such was their success that the flouring-mill was soon turned into a woolen manufactory, and was known as the " Free Bridge Woolen Factory Fifty rods east of the Tuscarawas Free Bridge," and was continued as a woolen factory; an addition was made in which the works for manufacturingflax-seed oil were erected, and the business of manufacturing oil was carried on for manjyears.

Under the untiring energy of Mr. Duncan, in which he was ably seconded by Mr. Skinner, the improvements of this portion of the Tuscarawas Valley were rapidly accelerated. Among the old-time landmarks of a pre-historic period, so far as the city of Massillon is concerned, is the building now owned by James Bayliss, Esq., and occupied by T. Clarke Miller, M. D., and which was erected in 1823, the east end being first used by Mr. Duncan for a dry goods store, the west end beipg occupied by Mr. Duncan as a residence Ibr his family. The year 1824, however, was the turning-point for business in the entire length of the Tuscarawas Valley, and especially in so much of it as lies in the county of Stark. In tliat year, 1824, the Legislature of Ohio, which ha<i had for several years the subject of internal iniproveraent in one form or .-mother before it, resolved to proceed ; and an act was passed February 24, directin<i; the Commissioners, who had been already appointed, to continue their labors and (Mn|)loy an able engineer and assistiints. Tlie reports of the Commissioners were so favorable, that, in 1825, an act was passed "to provide for the internal improvement of tlie State of Ohio by navigable canals," and agr(H!ably to the provisions of wliich act the Ohio Canal, iVora Cleveland to l'<n-tsmouth, was built.

Immediately upon the passage of the lastmentioned act, Jlr. Dinicau commenced and never ee.-iscd his labors until the canal was lo cated in the Tuscarawas Valley, and on the east side of the Tuscarawas Kiver. On the 18th day of January, 1826, forty-four sections, commencing at the .south side of the Summit Lake in Portage, now Summit County, on the Portage Summit, and extending south to the second lock south of the city of Massillon. near the residence of Mrs. Jarvis, a distance of twenty-seven miles, .soutii of the now city of Akron, were let to contractors, the letting taking place in Kendal at Mr. Duncan's residence, which was the only brick house in the village, and which will be remembered by the reader as the one erected bj- Alexander Skinner, Esq.

As soon as it was settled beyond peradventure where the canal was to be located, Mr. Duncan commenced to purchase land in the valley north and south of the tracts alread\- owned by him, and also commenced to laj- out a town, which extended from North street, on the north, adjoining the residence of Dr. Joseph Watson, to South street, adjoining the " Excelsior Works," west to the Tu.scarawas River (bcyoiid that boundary the land was owned I>y Judge William Henry), and east to High street, wliicli bordered on lands owned by the estate ot Thomas Rotch, deceased. Excepting on the south. .Mr. Duncan took in all the territory he owned. The fractional section on the east side of the river, not owned by Mr. Duncan, lying between his land and the river, was owned by Hon. P. A. Karthans, of Baltimore, having been entered by him at an early day, and on which a large portion of the village, between the canal and river, was laid out. The new town was called Massillon, taking its name from Jean Baptiste Massillon, a celebrated Roman Catholic French Bishop, of the days of Jiouis XIV, of France. The name was suggested by Mrs. Duncan, who was a tine French scholar, and of whom, it raaj^ be said in passing, she was a niece of the Hon. Charles Hammond, one of the early cdiUn's of the Cincinnati Gazritc, and a woman of rare education and social qualities.

The first school in the township was taught by William Mott, a young Quaker of limited education, but earnest in his efforts to dogood, faithful and upright ; he realized his incapacity, and soon (juit teaching, and worked in Thomas Roteh's woolen factory, and finally returned to the East. Next to him as a teacher was Cyrus Spink, a man of education and excellent habits. As a teacher for those days he was a success. But one of his pupils yet remains within the bounds of his territory as a teacher, now drawing rapidly to the seventh decennial period of life, and another now residing at Mantua Station in Portage County, Ohio, just entered upon his seventy-eighth year. Mr. Spink, on leaving Kendal, went to Wooster and remained there until his death on the lilst of May, 1859. At the time of his death he was a member of Congress elect from that district, and was sixtyseven years of age. He was JMajor (Jeneral of the Military Division in which Wooster is situated, and life-long sustained the reputation of an upright man. Among the teaclu^rs of that day was Ruth Logue, a Quaker, afterward the wife of Nathan Galbraith, of New Garden, Columbiana County. She was a model woman as teacher and in every other respect. The writer can well .say of her, as was written l)y C.oldsniitli of tlie \illage master of Sweet Auburn, she was a woman.

-Severe and stem to view, I knew licr well as cvcrv Iniant knew ; Full well ha.l h.Hliriu' truu'nlcs learned to trace Tlic (lay '^ cli^a-lci-> in her ninniing face : Yet .she was kind, (ir if si^vcre in aught. The love she bore to learninj; was in fault." The children she taught loved her, and the few who yet remain to visit the old plaj-ground on the '- (Jreen " in Kendal, cherish for her affectionate memories.

The wa>- schools were organized and conducted, the mode of teaching, indeed everything connected with education in those days, was, perhaps, the best that could be under the circii instances ; but while tluit is eonceded, it is a wonder that eiiildren learned anything useful, or received just impressions of anything calculated to serve them in the future. The foundations for usefulness, however, were laid, and many of the men and women educated, in part, in those schools, poor as they were, have written their names high up on the historic page, the women as teachers, and the men have taken their places in all the learned professions, and as legislators in the General Assembly of the State and in Congress.

On one occasion, a teacher came to Kendal and called on Capt. Mayhew Folger, who was always among the first to interest himself in the cause of education, and made known his desire to have a school, and represented himself as well qualified. Capt. Folger gave him pen and ink and said if he would draw a subscription paper, he, Capt. Folger, would subscribe a certain number of scholars ; the teacher drew up bis paper misspelling about half the words ; his attention was called to that defect in his own education, when he replied with the utmost coolness, " Spelling is not very essential.''

Until 1825, there was no uniform school system in Ohio. 'In that year, the friends of schools and canals,'' says the late Chief Justice Chase, in his admirable historical sketch of Ohio, preliminary to his great work. " Chase's Statutes," " united in the Legislature, and the following systems of internal improvement and general instruction were simultaneously brought into being. The act, from that year, imposed a general tax of one-half of one mill on the dollar for the support of schools, and provided fortheirestablishment in every township." The schools were championed by the Hon. James W. Lathrop, a member of the House from Stark County. On Mr. Lathrop's return to his constituency at the adjournment of the Legislature, a hue and cry was raised against him. which threatened his defeat as a candidate for re-election ; he was, however, re-elected by a reduced majority, the objection to him was the increased taxation to support common schools. '- People do not want so much learning," said a prominent farmer, whose grandson, in 1840, graduated from JeflTerson College, Penn.sylvania, at the head of his class, Mr. Lathrop returned to the Legislature and remodeled the " act entitled the act organi.'iingthe common schools of Ohio, " increasing the taxation and improving the law generally. The clamor against him was increased tenfold, but he was re-elected in 1827 ; and true to his convictions, he started again to improve, by amendments to the former acts, The Common-School System of Ohio.'' While engaged on his work, he was stricken down by disease and died ; his wife, a resident of Canton, rode to Columbus on horseback, arriving in time to witness his death : his remains were laid away in one of the cemeteries of the (lanital Cit}', and remained there until 1873, when Hon. Samuel C. Bowman, then member of the House of Representatives from this county, offered a resolution providing for their removal to Canton. The resolution was at once adojjted, and the Stark County members of the House and Senate were appointed a Joint Committee to attend to the removal. Hon. Ellis N. Johnson, Jr., being the colleague of Mr. Bowman and Hon. Arvine C. Wales from the Twenty-first District, vStark and Carroll, being the Senator, the Committee and remains being attended by Frederick Blankner, Esij., Third Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms of the House.

Mr. Lathrop having been an honored member of Canton Lodge,"No. 60, of A., F. & A. M., the brethren of both lodges in that city met the remains at the railwaj- station at Canton, and. under their care, the remains were deposited in the beautiful cemetery of that city. A large number of the prominent citizens of Canton and Massillon paid their respects to the remains of the founder of the common-school sjstem of Ohio !)}- their pre.sence at the interment; remarks, suited to the occasion, were made by gentlemen from both cities, but no eulogy can ever do justice to the memory of James W. Lathrop. A monument to his memory " more durable than brass, ' should be at once erected, u|)(in which should l)e inscribed, simply, The Founder of Common Schools," with the name of tlie distinguished citizen ; and, as Daniel Webster said of Bunker Hill Monument. there let it stand and meet tlie sun in his coming ; let the earliest light of the morning gild it, and parting day linger and play upon its summit."

Still the imperfections of the common schools were such that select schools were everywhere springing up, until repeated legislation has given the township, as well as the entire State, tlie best school system in the West.

The excellent school taught by IJarak Miehener, in Kendal, before he studied medicine, brougiit pupils from Canton who were taught the rudiments of a common English education. Tiie year 1817 brought many " new-comers " from New England, among wliom were Thomas Reed and Richard Bn^ed, and their families, from Lynn ; and Sylvanus Hathaway and his famil\-, originally from New iJedford, Mass. The first two went into the then lately organized township of .Jackson, and llathavvay stopped at Kendal, where he died in a few years. Miss Eliza Reed, one of the three children of Thomas Reed, was married to Mr. 0. K. Skinner in 1822. They lived in Kendal and in Massillon fortyfour years, she dying in 1860 at the age of si.\- ty-nine ; her life was one of great usefulness. Before her marriage, she, too, was a teacher of a select school at Kendal.

The first orchard planted in the township is on the south side of the road between Massillon and Canton, on what is now the farm of Mr. Daum, and it is believed to have been planted by Jonathan Chapman, l)etter known as Johnny Appleseed, who was well known through this part of Ohio during the earliest settlement of which any account can be had, as a planter of orchards. He is well remembered as going from house to hou.sc and calling for apple seeds. The fruit then had was brought from the East in wagons, and sold at fabulous prices. A full sketch of Johnny Appleseed will be found in " Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio," in the history of Richland County. The next orchard was planted in the south end of the township by John Reamer, on a trac^t of land sold b^' him to Mayhew Folger, and sul)sequently owned by Mr. Coder. After Mayiiew Kolger purchased the land, a portion of the trees were transplanted to the orchard formerly within the now city limits of Massillon, where stands the residence of Henry Beatty, Estj. On the west side of the river and now in the Second Ward of the city, was another early orchard, planted by Alexander Johnson. Esq., already mentioned in these pages. He had scr\'ed in the army (jf the United States with (len. Wayne in his campaign in 179-i. He came from Western Pennsylvania. and was of as hardy a race of men as ever peopled any country, and was a man of as high a sense of honor and integrity of character as ever aided in the formation of society. Earnest in liis convictions and true to himself, he never was false to anybody else. He was killed in 1841 by falling from his hay mow on the sharp paling of his liay ladder in his barn on the farm where now resides iiis son, Jonathan Johnson, just outside the cmIv limits of Massillon, at about the age of seventy.

This township claims the distinction of having first introduced Spanish Merino sheep into this portion of Ohio. Thomas Rotch introduced them ; they were driven from Hartford. Conn., and were the product of importations from Spain made in 1803. by Col. David Humphreys. The next i inportations of merino sheep into tiio Tuscarawas Valley were by Bezaleel Wells and William R. Dickenson, of Steubenville. -Mr. Dickenson being the owner of the celebrated merino ram '- Bolivar," which took the premium, a silver cup, in Baltimore. Bolivar was sent from Mr. Dickenson's farm, Estrcniadura, " in this township, in a covered cart in charge of a faithful shepherd, and at an exhibition of flne-wooled sheep from all parts of the United States, Perry Township bore away the prize.

.\mong the institutions oi Perry Township of which everybody should be proud, is the Cluirity School, of Kendal, sometimes called the Rotch School, founded on the following bequest in the will of Charity Rotch : llaviiiij for many years past been very desirous of pn)motiii,L,Mlic cstiili'lislinicnt of :i bciiovolciit institution foi- till- cMlucalioii of (U'slilutc orphans and indigent eliil<ln'n, more pnrtieularly those wliose parents :ire <if ilepiaved morals. Iliiif they nia.y he trained in liiil)ils of iiwlustr}- and economy ; it is my will llial my e.xecnlors convert the remainder of my jiroperty, liolli real ami personal, into money as soon iis praeliealile, and place the same in per manent fuiuls. the interest of which to he .solely upplied to said insliliilion. .Should the same he sullicicnt to attach a farm thereto, .so that a portion of the boys' time may he devoted to the huuliihle pursuit of af^ricullure, and a [jart of the ,!;irls' time to be devoted to the duties of hon.sewifeiy, whereby they may support Iheni.selves and heeome useful memhers of society, and also that a suflieieni tim<' may he devoted to tlu' aequirinjj of a connnon English education. It would more fully comply with my desires, should the amount not be sultieient fully to accomplish said object, and no other fmid e<iuld be added to second my efforts, it is my will that the interest of said ftnid be solely applied to the instruction of such children in a common English education.

no idea what the amount would be, but greater or smaller it was to be carefully husbanded by her executors, who were Arvine Wales and Matthew Mac\', who after settling the estate and paying the last farthing in the way of specific legacies, and reducing the resl and residue to monej', or its equivalent, found tluit :?L'(),()OU would remain for the purpose of estahlisliing a school, sucii as was contemplated by the Quaker woman wliose net was for the rncc, the poor ami iirnli/ irliiiin site lacei-foir/of. The fund was carefully managed by the executors, Arvine Wales, especially, and within twenty years after the death of the testatrix, Mr. Wales had purchased 185 acres of choice farming land just outside the city limits on the north, and on whicli tile scliool buildings are erected.

The following very complete history of the school, its objects and the success that has attended it, is furnished by Ira M. Allen, Esq., Superintendent :

The school, when full, to consist of twenty boys and twenty girls were indentured to the Board of Trustees for four years, ten to he admitted and ten to graduate at the end of four years. No child to be admitted under twelve, nor over fifteen j'ears of age. As the children were to be tauglit, the boys farming, and the girls to do all kinds of housework and plain sewing, which was one of the requirements of the will, and the school has been managed substantially upon that jilan since its organization, except that when the prices of clothing and supplies for the school advanced during the war, it was foimd that the income was not sufficient to maintain so many, when the number of pupils was reduced to thirty.

The school has been conducted on the plan of a family, as far as possible. All cat at the same table and mingle together as brothers and sisters, and there is very little more restraint than woidd be found necessary in a well-regulated family, they are, in fact, a family of brothers and sisters. The cultivating of the idea that we are a family, works well. All that is required for an applicant, when there is a vacancy in the school, is that he or she shall be of sound mind and body, of fair moral character, and so poor as to be unable to procure decent educational advantages. Mr. Dawley resigned bis pii'iitioii as Superintendent. April 1. lS.'i4, and was v||, r,r,l, ,1 I.v Ini :\[. Allrn. who rcsiLincd in 1864. and \v;i< mi. , r.Urd bv Adam W. Ileldenhrand, a former iiiqiii. w lio \\ a^ ileciid ( 'lerk (jf tbrConrt of Common Pleas in l>*<;:,. .hhI i- ut.n Probate .lud-v of Stark Counly. holdiii;: the tiller |. lace lor lliii-c terms. Judire lleldenbrandV successor was Abraham

C. Dulev. who managt'd the school successfully for seven years, when hc' rcsigncil and Mr. .1. W. tieseman took his jilace. who was ai;ain succeeded by Ira M. Allen, Ajjril 1, 1879, and who has charge of the school at this time.

There have been graduated at the Kendal Charity School, which is the corporate name of the institution, aliout one hundred and fift_v scholar.^ -.incc its organization, mo.st of whom have Ipccoulc liouorable members of society, and many have arisen to eminence in tlu' learned |irn(cssions. The farm is nearly all unilcr culli\ ;ilion, I he entire labor of the farm and in llic bouse is piitoiiued by the pupils, notwithstanding which, the division of labor and study is such that the children have about as many hours of study during the year, as is devoted to teaching in the best Union schools of the State. Many complete the entin- <ourse of study, which consists of reading, writing, geography, arithmetic, grammar, natural philosophy, Histor_y of the United States, elements of phj'siology, algebra and geometry.

Whatever may be due to Charity Rotch for her gift for the education of the poor and needj', all of which will ever be gratefull}- acknowledged, the name and memory of Arvine Wales will ever be kindly and affectionately remembered in connection with the cause of education, not only for his guarding the fund upon which the Charity School is based, but for his devotion to the cause of popular education during his long and useful life. The Charity School of Kendal, and the Union School of Massillon, are monuments which bear the impress of his care and watchfulness.

While great credit is due to the Superintendents of the (Uiaritj' School, their wives, who have had the responsibility, in addition to their own families, of looking after the pupils, must not be overlooked nor forgotten ; thej', too, have liorne burthens that entitle them to mention ever3where in connection with the school, and nobly and well ha\e they discharged every dutj' and every responsibility connected with their position, they will be ever gratefully- remembered bj- the poor for whom they so faithfully labored.

On the Gth of the eighth month, 1824, Charity Rotch died at the Spring Hill farm, and was buried in the Friends' burying ground in Kendal, where rest the remains of many of the " rude forefathers of the hamlet."

The property belonging to Kendal Charity School, at a low estimate is valued at $60,000. The interest on the fund, now about $30,000, with the labor of the pupils, pays tlie entire cost of the school, and under the management of the present careful Board of Trustees and Superintendent, tlie school is fulfiHing the an.xious wishes of its founder, as expressed in her hist will and testament near sixty j'ears since.

The present Board of Trustees eonsist of Thomas McCulloutrh, President; Charles F. Hicks. Frank L. Baldwin, Horace Richards and Hon. A. C. Wales. Secretary and Treasurer. The grave of Charity Rotch may possibly be found in the old Quaker burying ground. If there be anything to enable the stranger to find it, it is a plain sandstone just above the surface of the earth with the initials C. R. " The foe and the stranger might tread o'er her head," unconscious that he is standing on the grave of the noble woman who divided her estate with t he poor. The writer of these sketches attended her funeral, and as no epitaph graces her tombstone, he desires to say of her, "she loved mankind."

While each )-ear's history discloses some event that was regarded worth remembering, the year 1 824 has its event, and that was the running of a four-horse post coach from Pittsburgh to Mansfield once a week, and earr3'ing the mail ; then the post office department increased the mail service to twice a week in coaches, then tri-weekly, which soon became a daily : before the running of coaches, the mails were received weekly ; their coming was announced by the

The proprietor of the stage line, as it was called, was Daniel Burgert. of Paris, the driver a man by the name of Estcp, afterward a mer- ; chant in New .Mexandria, Columbiana Co. ' I'roprietor and driver have long since closed their accoimts.

The year 182fi. was marked by many important events in the history of this township : the laying-out of the new city of Massillon, the letting of the work on the Ohio Canal to contractors and the commencement of the work, were regarded as works of great importance in the effect they were destined to have on the future history of the county, and especially on the no circumstance in history is remembered with more interest than the formation of the Kendal Community, its rise and progress and decline and fall.

In the }-ear 1825, it will be remembered that much was written on the subject of socialism and social reform, and that among the writers and advocates of such a reformation was Robert Owen, father of the late Robert Dale Owen, and who will ever be remembered as a humanitarian of the most noble type, unbounded benevolence, and stainless purity of character and reputation, of New Lanack, Scotland. Paul Brown, one of the clearest writers and thinkers on that subject ; Josiali Warren, a man somewhat Utopian in his ideas, but. nevertheless, upright and honest in his convictions, and many others, were prominent in their efforts to awaken the public mind to a consideration of the subject. Paul Brown and .Josiah Warren bi'ing in the West and visitors at the Kendal Community, were known to the writer. Men and women of liberal and enlarged views, and who might well be classed among the most advanced thinkers, gave the subject attention, and the result was, that, in the summer of 1821). man}' of the residents of Perry and Tuscarawas Townships and also from Portage County, after \'arious meetings and discussions of the sul)ject. determined to organize a comniiniity based generally upon the views of Robert Owen ; the name adopted by the association was the Kendal Community. The name given it by the public was the '- Owenites. ' They purchased of the estate of Thomas Rotch, 2,113 acres of land in the neighborhood of Kendal and Massillon. together with some town lots, improved and unimproved, in Kendal, for 82it.000. ()f the officers, or mode of government of the community, little can now be ascertained. In November, 1827, the community was re-enforced by a considerable accession from the State of New York. Edward Dtnin and James Bayliss. of the city of New York ; Dr. Samuel I'nderhill. wife and children, a total of five ; Nathaniel Ilnderhill. wife and children, a total of five ; Jethro Macy. w'ife and five children, a total of seven ; Henry C. Fosdick, wife anti children, a total of seven ; William (i. Macy and Edward

Hussey, making a total of twenty-eight. They started from Coxsaekie, Greene Co., N. Y., so near the close of navigation as to be subjected to almost untold trials before reaching Kendal. On reaching Buffitlo, all the steamboats on the lake were laid up, and it was with great difficulty that a small and inferior schooner could be had to bring them to Cleveland, where the3- arrived after " hair-breadth 'scapes." The Ohio Canal was only navigable to Akron, in its best condition, and, at that season of the yeai-, could hardlj' be called navigable at all ; some of the men walked to Akron on the towing-path of the canal, which, much of the way, was through an almost uninhabited portion of the country ; those who managed to get to Akron were met with teams from the community, and, after much suffering, all got through safely, and all united with the Kendal Community to which they had been invited, and which they intended to do before leaving home.

For the rest, in regard to this social enterprise, one of the surviving members of the community furnishes the following, and from whose manuscript the foregoing, much condensed account in reference to the New York accession to the communit}- is taken. It is much to be regretted that the full account of the journey from Albany to Kendal could not be inserted, as it is full of points of exceeding interest.

" On our arrival," says the gentleman from whose manuscript the following is copied, " we went to work with a will, and were very anxious to make a success of the undertaking, and willing and ready to make any sacrifice to that end. We had listened to that eloquent philanthropist, Robert Owen, had read much that he had writ ten, and were thoroughly convinced - as he taught - that man is the creature of circumstances, over which he has no control whatever. That he cannot say who his parents shall be, what shall be their country, polities or religious creed ; therefore his character is formed for him and not by him. That propertj* was very unequally divided ; that all things were tending to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. That those who produced the wealth enjoyed only a small portion of it, and that those who produced nothing had too much wealth for their own good. That the producing classes, if properl\' educated and surrounded by proper circumstances, could easily arrange society so as to secure to each the product of his or her own labor, and all the best advantages of securing to all the children equall}- the very best education attainable.

'- Amasa Bailey, Asa K. Burroughs. Matthew Macy, Frederick Oberlin, Philip Waggoner. John Waggoner, John Newcomb, William Harding. Zeno Culver, Hezekiah Culver, John H. Blackman, John Harmon. John Sprague, William Widgeon, Jehiel Fox, Jonathan Winter, Joseph Tinkler, Dr. Luther Hauchett, William Hauchett and Elijah Bigelow ; all these had families. Of those who had not families were Lutlier Pond, David Kennedy and Jolui Kennedy, and doubtless others that I cannot remember. 3Iost of the families were large, and seemed to keep all busy to make a living, and no remunerative labor offering to enable them to earn money to pay the annual amount coming due on the large tract of land purchased of the Rotch estate, many of the aoove-named individuals had sold good farms or homes to raise money for the first payment. Some began to feel discouraged, and, unable to accomplish the object and purpose for wh.ich thej' came together, they ga\'e it up, and the property was sold to Messrs. Duncan, Wales and Skinner, who divided it into farms and town lots, and sold much of it at a good profit, and divided the rest.

The members of the community scattered in various directions, each pursuing those objects in life most likely to lead him and his to enjo}- health, wealth and happiness. Some of the above-named persons still remain in this neighborhood, notwithstanding the wonderful changes that have occurred in the last fifty-four years.'

South of the center of the township is the village of Richville, laid out by John Honk, in 183(5. 3Ir. Houk was proud of the title, 'the proprietor of Richville," and did what he could to give the village celebrity. It is on the State road running from Canton, southwest to Navarre, in Bethlehem Township, Wilmot. in Sugar Creek and Holmes County.

For sixty-seven j-ears. Perry Township has been an organized political coramunit}-, occupying a most important position in the fertile valle\' of the Tuscarawas. East and west of the river, it produces ever3'thing that any township marks Ohio's history, Perry Township must alwaj's be in the front rank of the townships of the county, whose boast shall soon be, that she contains within her borders three cities.