Stark County, Ohio - Chapter 14 (2 of 2 so headed), 1881 (part 2 of 2)

In ]84(), when the Mexican war broke out and troops were called for, Allen enlisted and was elected Captain of Co. A, of the First Ohio Regiment, Col. Samuel R. Curtis, afterward Major General of Volunteers in the war of the rebellion, and Member of Congress from Iowa. As tlie then Ohio regiments were only intended for one year's service, when the year was u[) the troops were mustered out, and Capt. Allen came home, after having done camp duty a year at Matamoras ; he went to his old home at Canton, was elected a Justice of the Peace, and was appointed a Deputy Clerk of the Common I'leas Court of the County. In 1849, on the discovery of gold in California, Capt. Allen detenninetl, like the Argonauts who sailed in search of tlie Golden Fleece, to sail for California as soon as circumstances would permit him to do so, having a brother-in-law at Marysville, Hon. O. P. Stidger, a Judge of one of the courts, who had gone there in 1849. He left Canton for the Golden State in 185;!, and arrived there after a two or tiiree months' journey. He, soon after arri\ing there, was ottered and accepted the position of editor of the Marysville Herald, where he remained for some time. Leaving there, lii^ visited various portions of the State, and finally brought up again at Washoe. Nevada, and. in 18(53. was editor of Washoe Citi/ Times, a daily. How long he remained there is not known. In 1805, as nearly as can be a.sccrtained, he died suddenly, somewhere in the Sierras ; and a truer man, in all that constitutes genuine manhood, than James Allen never lived. Under other circumstances, his name would have been peerless in the list of American writers.

From 1843 to 1848, it is exceedingly ditlicult to keep track of the changes in the newspaper press in Massillon. At one time, during those few yearf, the late E. P. Grant had charge of a

The following, furnished by Joseph K. Merwin, Esq., a practical printer residing in the city, may be regarded as giving a correct account of the newspaper press of Massillon since 1848

"The IRni/J of Freedom ami Wlhnut Pfoeisii was printed in the summer and fall of 1848 as a Free-Soil campaign paper, by E. Burke Fisher, tlian whom there were few more spirited writers. That year, the Massillon Tclegnijih was published by Painter & Wilson, and was a Whig paper. It ceased to e.vist in 1849, and the materials belonging to the office were purchased by a Mr. Hanna, from Circleville. He had a fondness for the name he gave his paper, the Herald^ having been connected with the Circleville Herald. The late Hon. William C. Earle and James S. Underhill, Esq., now in Illinois, purchased the material and revived the Massillon Xew^. Mr. Earle soon purchased Mr. Underhill's interest, and edited the paper several years with marked ability and success, when he sold out to "Messrs. Logan & Fletcher, who held the paper something over a year, when they sold out to Charles A. Hugns. James E. Wharton bought Hugus out, and continued the publication of the paper until 1857, and then stopped. In 1858, in the early spring, Joseph K. 3Ierwin and David W. Huntsman purchased the material of the Neirs office, and commenced the publication of a paper called the Jounud of the Times. After publishing a paper neutral in politics for fifteen months, Mr. Merwin purchased Mr. Huntsman's interest, and continued the paper as a Republican paper until the spring of 1861, when he sold out the good-will and subscription list to Josiah Hartzell, of the Stark Ciimdij liejiuh/ieaii. Soon after, tlie material composing the otHce was purchased by Robert & Alexander Harkins, who revived the old Massillon Gazette, and continued it until May, 1802.

After the Harkins Brothers ceased to publish a paper, John Frost, of New Lisbon, the veteran printer of this Congressional District, and Peter Welker. Esq.. of the city of Massillon, purclia.sed and commenced the publishing of the Massillon Independent. The}' were succeeded by Charles E. Taylor, Esq., who continues to publish it. In the meantime, J. W. Garrison removed to Massillon from Alliance, bringing with him a general assortment of printing material, and commenced the publication of the Massillon Ameriean November 10, 1809. He was succeeded by Messrs. JlcCurdy & Geesaman, in August, 1870, and they in turn were succeeded by Messrs. S. & J. J. Hoover, in Decemljer, 1870, who have continued the publication of the paper to this time.'' During all this period other papers have started and gone "where the woodbine twineth.' In 1851, the ubiquitous Joseph Wilkinson White started the Wheat t^iti/ Mercury, which lasted about three months. Dr. Bowen, an enthusiast on the subject of education, at one time published The Free Srhiml Clarion, and in 1841, The Geniaus of Temperance lived as long as the friends of temperance would sustain it. When they ceased its support, it sickened and died, as did more than one hundred temperance papers that sprang into existence that 3ear all over tlie land under the dispensations of Washingtonian temperance.

Tluit part of Massillon now known as the Fourth Ward, originally as Kendal, was always famou.s for its celebrities. In its earl3- daj's, it had its Poet Laureate or Laureates, for they were many, one of whom seemed especially favored.

In 1822, while Thomas Botch was proprietor of the Kendal Woolen Factory, he liad in his employ an Irisli weaver, who was in man3' respects a genius, by filename of Moses McCammon, who, in addition to his being a weaver and at the head of his profession in the handling of the warps and woofs of a piece of cloth, often essayed to scale the rugged heights of Parnassus. His Pegasus used to carry him to the mountain top.

One of his flights brought forth the following. His employer, Thomas Rotch, having sent to Sally McCammon, Moses' wife, a small package of tea, Jloses tlius acknowledges it in a note to his employer ;

Di.siipiiiiintmciits of view and the cdurses of f;ite Press ilowii on (lur l)<)S(>ms witli wonilerfu! wciglit, But all tlic annoyance that tends us through life Is nothing at all to tlie ffown.s of a wife. 1 have one. who as long as her teapot's supplieil. 1 si'ldorn have known her to scold or to ciiide. But when it is empty, no mortal. I'm sure. Could bear the abuse I am fon-ed to endure. Since evef she got what you sent her, slit's been As great in her mind as a Dueliess or Queen ; Like a kitten, she skips thro' her house full of glee, And I am as happy as liappy can be.

Let speckled faced topers, so jolly and frisky. Keep roarins; the praises of hranily and whisky ; They may roar till they split, il is nothing to me; I'll sins while I'm able the virtues of tea.

Tea makes an old woman that's withered and gray As blithe and as blooming as daisies in May. And I know very well that it quiets the strife Which often ari.ses 'twixt husband and wife.

Here, now, I conclude, and as long as tlie si)ring Entices the bushes ";ay verd\n-c to bring. Or as long as great Erie produces a salmon. So long, t'nx your

Chapteu Xvi.'

LEXINGTON TOWNSIHl' - THE E.AIILV HISTORY AND PHVS1C.\L FEATfUES - .SEITLEMENT BV WHITES - riONEEI! INDrSTlUES - EUr('.\T10NAL INFLUENCE.S - CIIUHCU HIS'lOKV, ETC.

THE chronological increase of agricultural products, wealth, population of the township, etc., are garnered matters of record, open to research and examination, now as in the future. But tiie arduous labors, interesting luinting exploits, depredations, heroic fortitude, reminiscences of the Indians, etc., of the pioneers of the township, have their record only in the fading memories which gleam dimly on the incidents of early life. It is the design to incorporate as mtich of this class of material in the subsequent chapters as has been or as can be reliably obtained.

The facts herein written were obtained some twentj- years ago from the first settlers of 1800-08 ; since then, the last of these, Shadrach Feltz. has passed the threshold of that home, which fast bolls its treasniy of early remembrances from the prj-ing scrutiny' of inquiring posterity. There are many who sleep in the small, neglected and almost forgotten graveyards of the townships, whose heirloom was heroism. l)ut whose wager of life was hard. The}- battled with interminable forests, wild, beasts and wilder men. and to-day the}' sleep forgotten. Tlieir h-ird-earned patrimony is in the fertile fields, early life, happy homes clustering with peace and comfort - a realized legac}' to-day. For these bequeathments we will read and write their names anew.

Settlement in Lexington Township was made in lS05-0(), by families attached to the Quaker faith, among the first of whom were Amos Holloway, Zaccheus Stanton, Nathan (laskill, John (Jrant, David Berry and Jesse Feltz. Amos Hol- loway emigrated from Loudoun County, Virginia and entered the land that was chosen for the site of the village of Lexington, and, in conjunction with Nathan (iaskill, was the proprietor. The first roads laid out in this township were the ones leading from Deerlield to Canton, diagonally across the township, and the other was from Salem, intersecting the first at the village of Lexington. The first post office was on the first of these routes, located in 1811, threequarters of a mile west of the town, at the house of the pioneer, Jesse Feltz. Th(! farm is still occupied by his son, Shadrach Feltz, who had the control of the ottice near twelve years. A weekly mail arrived at this station, it was first carried on horseback bj' Judeth l"'arnam. It was considered an extraordinaiy trip to reach Canton from Deerlield in one day. The same post office was kept till it was laid down in Lexington, by .Mr. William Kingsbury, a volunteer soldier in the last war with England, and who was in the reception of a pension from the Government for over thirty years. In an engagement with the British on our northern frontier, he was struck with an ounce lead ball in the occipital region of the head, which deep- Ij- embedded itself and was not dislodged by surgical skill until some weeks after the accident. The old man kept the ball and his bloody shirt till his death, which occurred in 1835, as tro[)hies of the danger he encountered through his youthful patriotism. His son, (iu\- Kingsbury (deceased) represented the county from this township in the lower branch of the Legislature in the 3'ear 1888. Mr. Guj- Kingsbury was the only resident of the township that ever represented the county in the Legislature, except the Hon. Hiuuphrey Hoover (deceased) who was elected in 1 SOU. and re-elected in 18(12. Since then R. (}. Williams and E. Hartshorn have served in that capacity. John Kingsbnry, a resident of tliis city, was a brother to (ruy Kinosbury. The Oliin Ri'piisifoTi/. which was published in Canton for more than fifty consecutive years, by tlie respected pioneer editor. John Saxton. was the first paper received at the first office and road liy the first settlers of Lexington Township. The first child born in the township was a daughter to Timothy and Alice Grcweil. The first marriage was a daughter of Abraham and Tabitha Wileraan to William Beedcr, of New Garden. The second marriage was a daughter of William and Mary Pennock, to Matthew Vauohn, of Virginia.

It seems singular to the third generation that the prospecting settlers of Stark County should prefer to pitcli their tents on tlie.thin, cold, clay soil, common to the immediate \^icinity of Lexington, when much more fertile localities lay in close proximity. The barrens, or that section surroundinsi Canton, now grown, except where cultivated, with small oaks, was considered, in 1806. to he very worthless land. Time has proven it to Ije tlic richest land in the county, and peculiarly adapted to the cultivation of wheat. But there are many influences at work controlling the judgment of locating pioneers ; soil and timber kinilred to the kind fi'orn whence they came is not the least potential. The Mahoning, at this date. was a mighty river, often sweeping to the brovv of its secondary embankments, its tributaries yielding it their ever constant supplies, drawn from the humid soil, evaporation shut out by dense, over-arching forests. It is now shorn of its majesty, and dry seasons see it dwarfed to a rix'Ulet. Then the white-barked cottonwood trees, a few of which remain along its course.

enters th'e township on the southern' third of its eastern border, runs a circuilous direction and passes out at its northeastern corner. At the time of the first settlement, it was well stocked with fine fish ; from its watersthe pioneers and Indians drew a supply of food of this kind, ecpial to all their wants.! Notwithstanding its present diminished volume' and interrupted waters, many good-sized fislv (bass) are. yet annually caught. The bank of this stream in this township for sixty -eight consecutive years has had its continuous line of Daniel Waltons. Cotemporary with the settlement made in Lexington Township, one was made at Kendal, now a northern ward of tlie city of .Massillon. It gives the mind a better conception of the wild and chaotic condition of things in tluit territory six miles square, known as Lexington Township, at the time of its first settlement, viz.. 1805, to know that tiie county of Stark was not organized for four years after this date (1809). The first house in the town of Lexington, and the first with a shingle roof in the township, was built in 1808 by Amos Holloway. In this building; the first store was opened, by Gideon Hughes. The heaviest of any one article, as well as the one in which most cai)ital was invested, was earthen-ware. This mercantile enterprise, proving anti-lucra-' tive, was soon abandoned, and this shingleroofed St. Paul's of Lexington was used as the first house for the assemblage of public worshi() hy the Society of Friends, and in the interim of its religions occupation, was ludlowed to the noble use of -' teaching tlie young idea how to shoot." The first pedagogue in this scliool was Daniel Votuw. This was a subscription school, and conducted in harmony with the views of Friends.

The land of Lexington Township was entered -at S2 per acre, and payable in three installments at the land office in Steubenville. In the reduction of the price of Government land to waters or stay its course ; they were swept as feathers from its channel. The early settlers were of the opinion that the Mahoning was navigable and would be the liighway of commerce from the Ohio River to Lexington. This opinion had much to do with the first settlers locating upon its banks and calling that location Lexington in 1805. This stream, which once was deservedlv dignified bv the title who had fm-feited their land, by not paying the second and third installments, to re-enter Government land at the rate of :?1.25 per acre, to the amount of the money they had paid on their forfeited estates. From the scarcity of |)ostroutes, and consequent difficulty of disseminating a knowledge of enacted laws, as well as other news, in these times, the early settlers were generally ignorant of this providing clause in the new land-law, and thought thej- had lost all under the pro\isions of the old law. A few men, or rascals, aoquainled with the facts in the case, purchased the entr_v papers of numerous defaulting early settlers, for a few dollars, and paid the balance due or entered new lands to tliu amount that had been paid upon what had been deemed forfeited patents. The beginning of some of the largest fortunes in this section were laid by dealing in these papers, Tlie morality of the procedure may be a question upon wiiich the posterity of a defraiidecl ancestry may speculate. A real estate operator, well known in this section of Ohio, obtained a beginning in this wa}-, and died ten years ago worth §1,500,000.

In the war between Eiigiand and America, in 1S12, the British (ioveriiinent sought in the savages, numerous in the West, and in front of the advancing tide of Caucasian civilization, emissaries to assist in the doniinaucy of their arms. Prior to this period, the Indians of Lexington Township weie numerous. The red men throng and linger where game abounds. The forests here were alive with game, and the waters of the river filled with fish. From the earliest settlement of the township until the war, the conduct of tlie Indians toward tlie white settler was pacific, if not kind. This, to an extent, was referable to the fact that the first whites were disciples of William Penn, and the kind, peaceable di.'ii)osition of the members of the trilie inhabiting the townsliip. We have uo savage brutality upon their part, occurring in the township, to record. One white ir.an w-as siv't, tlie ball passing through both eyes and the liritlge of the uOsc. yet lived deprived of .'^ight. His name was Daniel Diver. lie died in Deerfield in ISiJO, where the shooting occurretl. It sprang out of a horse trade. The Indians trapped game on the Mahoning. Beech Crock and Deer Creek, all larger streams than now. but they had no permanent settlement in the township. Another feature which attracted the Indians to Lexington Township, besides the abundance of game, was the large, compact groves of sugar trees peculiar to the township, from which they obtained a supply of the saccharine element. Some of the trees yet show the scarifications and girdlings adopted by them to obtain the water. It was also the current belief among the people of the township, even as late as 1840, that the Indians obtained their suppl}- of lead from this immediate vicinliy. At the time of the lirst white settlers the Indians possessed many of the common imj)lements incident to frontier civilization, such as guns, hatchets, axes,- kettles, etc. The chief encampment of the tribe found in this townshi]) was four miles south of New Philadelphia, in what was then Coshocton Comity. But it was then common for Indians to stay o\ er the hunting season, committing no depredation, and remaining kind and deferential to the whites. The exact spot of one of their primitive mills is a little south of ]Mr. Haines' orchard. The machinery consisted of a stump hollowed out and a sapling bent over; to the pendant extremity of which was attached liy thongs of tough bark a large stone, which, by Ijeariiig on the bent sapling, played upon the maze in the concavity of the stump, which would reduce it rapidly and effect nally. Snsiucion is a strong,

I and better protected localities, but Commodore Perry put an effectual quietus upon the unnatural and baibarous coalition foinicd l)v England against Amerioan.s ; and the Indians, left uusuppoited by British gold, rum and inllueiue, grew sullen and suspicion.* - stopped all intercourse with the whites of the township, and withdrew to unoccupied, or new hunting-

I ing Indian was seen in the township. Occasionally an Indian grave isliy accident o)icned, revealing only some rude device for hunting less perishable than their bones - Hint, darts and stone axes being now ami then turned up by the plowman. These, with the traditions we have recorded are the only reminders that they ever trod the soil of the township. Let them go from other pilaces as from here, their destruction is fixed and necessary everywhere: we have no sentiment to waste on a savage.

Wild game, at the settlement of l/cxinglon township, was very jilenty, with the exception of beaver, which, being very scarce at first, soon entirely disappeared. Otters and muskrats were trapped by the Indians until 18!:?. on the Mahoning. Bears were very plenty and destructive on hogs as late as 1815. They would seize a hog that would weigh one hundred pounds, in their fore paws, and run direct with it to ttie forest. If tlie hog was too large for them to manage In this manner, they would jump on it, guiding it with tlieir fore feet, and stimulating it by gnawing its neck, thus ride it to the woods and destroy it. A large specimen of the bruin species, engaged in this equestrian exercise, was shot by Shadrach Feltz, (a pioneer living about one mile west of Lexington, on the road to Limaville). Its weight was two hundred pounds. The Bucephalus of its choice was a large hog belongiiiij: (() Mr. Feltz. Bears attack swine by giunvinu tlie tops of their heads and shoulders. A liog lielonging to Nathan Gaskill had sta^-ed away in search of mast ; it returned with its eyes out and its skull bone exposed. This hog, though scalped and blinded by bruin, lived and was fattened by Gaskill. The last bear seen in the township was in 183(1. A large tract of land that is low and level, consisting of ten or fifteen feet of turfj- vegetable deposit, resting on a body of water about three feet deep, upon which E;ist .\lliance is now built, was known to the earliest settlement of the township as the Bear Swamp." This wet or swamp land was covered with a dense growth of alder bushes, ten or fifteen feet high, which formed an excellent rendezvous for bears. From its being their covert, it received the name of " Bear Swamp." But there are no alder bushes or swamp or bears there now, and the title is fast losing its significance.

Isaac Teeters - who don't know Isaac '.' He has been for years an essential feature of the P.. Ft. W. & C. R. R. at this point. Isaac and Peter Chance each lost an arm b3- the premature discharge of an old cast cannon, with which they were trying to give character to a national birthday- in Williamsport, over thirty years ago. Isaac well remembers his father, Jonathan, going to this swamp to hunt deer, always returning to his home laden with bear, deer or otter. Deer, in 1806-07, in Lexington Township, were as abundant as sheep are now, and continued abundant until the great snow storm of 1817, which thawed a little, then froze, thus forming a crust which incapacitated them from traveling; hundreds of them starved to death. This protracted snow starved many other varieties of game. The great snow of 1817 is yet ominously referred to by old people now, but young and vigorous at that date, and battling bravelj' with the vicissitudes and obstacles of frontier life. The snow averaged a depth of four feet, and continued on the groun(l near four months. Deer could ill}' travel on the frozen crust of the snow, and if they broke through, they could not extricate themselves, and consequently perished by the score. Wolves were numerous and the wary and common enemy of the sheep the settlers were tr}'ing to introduce, which could only be preserved by penning them up through the night and guarding them through the day. Turkeys, between the years of 1806 and 1820, wore seen in great flocks, often numbering hundreds. Porcupines were very thick ; the}' are strictly vegetarian in their habits, living on bark, roots, buds and wild fruits. There are none now in this section. A price is paid to see them in traveling menageries. Rabbits and quails were very scarce in early times. These and some other animals are a link between domestic and absolutely wild or untamable animals ; they flourish better under the shadow of a sparse population. There are more of them to-day in the townsliip than there were fifty years ago. From 1805 to 1820, deer skins were worth 75 cents; raccoon skins, 25 cents ; otter skins, $4, and bear skins. $1.25. Rattlesnakes, in earh' times, in Lexington Township, were quite common, and very numerous. In 1812, one struck an ox above the eye, which speedil}' caused his death. The ox was owned by John Grant, father-in-law of R. J. Haines. (Iraut's first cabin was about twenty feet nortii of L. L. Lamborn's stable. The debris of the cabin was partially exhumed by the plow last fall. The last rattlesnake seen in the township was caught by the writer in ! 850, on tlie grounds now owned and occupied by the Mt. Union College. It was captured by inducing it to enter a barrel laid on its side, and when in, the barrel was straightened up ; it was two feet long and had eight rattles. It was kept and experimented with for four months. It took no nourishment during this long time but a small, green-colored snake, nine inches long. When first captured, this snake was very poisonous ; it struck a quail on the thigii, which caused its death in five minutes. From confinement and improper nourishment it graduallj' lost its poisonous qualities. It is a traditionary practice with hunters traveling grounds infested with this reptile to stuff' their boots or shoes with white ash leaves, believing them to be an effectual remedy against liie attack of the rattlesnake. So far as this snake was concerned, it was found to be but a traditionary practice, for it would dart its head into a bunch of white ash leaves as quickl}- as it would into a tuft, bush or elder h-aves.

Bees were alnnnlaiit in the township in early times; wild honey was an article of export second only to maple sugar. The value of honey from 1806 to 1815 averaged about 12 cents per pound or ?1 per gallon. The pioneers were very expert in ferreting out bee-trees. They noticed the direction a bee wouid take when heavil}' laden with the sweets of a wild Bower, and that direction would be in a straight line to the hollow tree in which the swarm rendezvoused. The tree were also found by the drones of the hive which had been killed by the workers and thrown out and lay dead at the roots of the tree. And in the early warm days of the spring the bees would be drawn out of their winter quarters and make a peculiar buzzing noise ; these and many other devices were oft resorted to by the sharpened senses of the bee hunter to find this hidden treasure. It is singular how quick the civilized Caucasian becomes an expert in all the shrewd tactics of the savage, to circumvent and capture all kinds of game ; these capabilities have been supposed to belong exclusivel}' to the Indian race, but frontier life on the continent has developed many white hunters far superior to any red men of whom we have an3' account. Squirrels were not so plenty at the period of the first settlement of the township as they were twenty years after. Black squirrels at first were the only ones seen. About 1820, the gray variety made its appearance, and the few that remain at this date are of this kind. In 1840, the red s(|uirrel made its advent into this section and is now altogether the most numerous species. In 1 S27. there was a hegira of squirrels ; tliey were so numerous that thej' destrojed the farmers' crops. There was a scjuirrel hunt organized this year; a sum, or purse of money, was raised, - the hunters were to receive this money in proportion to the number of squirrels the}- shot. They were all to hunt on the same day. and meet in Mount Union in the evening, count the s(-alps and receive their /;to rata of the fund. Job Johnson was purse holder, and Nathan (laskill judge. E. X. Johnson, Sr., shot 55,

Charles May, 170, etc., and in all they killed in one day seventeen hundred sijuirrels. Thomas Grant took the premium for killing the greatest number. He now resides in Williams County, Ohio. In the year 1821, wolves were very numerous, and .so bold they would attack stock of anj- kind. .V little west of I'lcedom. on the farm now occui)ied l)y .Mr. Elisha Ti^cters. a pack of these animals attacked and killed a six-years-old cow that belonged to John Grant. About this period, the last otters were killed in the .Mahoning and its tributaries. Clayton Grant, now living in Hourlion, Kosciusko Co., Ind,, shot the last deer, and caught the last otter seen in Lexington Township, In the year 1818, a Mr, Hubbard lived one mile east of the town of Lexington, lie. as well as .Mrs. Hubbard, were excellent rille shots, and often amused themselves by shooting at a mark. But death came into the family and left Mrs, Hubbard a widow, with four children dejjending upon her for the necessaries of life. To illustrate the trials, fortitude and heroism of a pioneer mother, the following incident is given: About dusk one evening, a sow that had a l)rood of pigs by the side of a larger log, in tlu- woods a little south of y\v. Hul)bard s cabin, was heard demonstrating in a wa^' peculiar to hogs when menaced with danger ; Mrs, Hubbard, with the quick sense of a hunter, at once suspected the cause of the threatened peril to the pigs, took her trusty rifle from its resting place, and with a courage that would blanch half the men in the township to-day, went to the scene of the trouble ; when within a hundred paces, slie barely discovered the dim outlines of a great shewolf battling with the sow. With insutlicirnl light to see the sights upon the gun, she lired. The wolf not knowing from which direction the shot came, or intending to attack her, sprang toward her and fell dead at her feet, .Mrs, Hubbard drew the knife from her hunting girdle, and skinned the wolf, threw the skin over her shoulder and started in the supposed direction of her cabin. In this she was mistaken and bewildered. It was now blank darkness, and she wandered in the woods all that night and all next day, in the vain search of her humble home and little ones. Again night donned its sable mantle, and to mock its blackness, lit it up with stars, beneath which, and the somlier. spectral gloom of arching primitive forcsis. moved the wearied steps and lieat the anxious heart of that brave mother. After thirty hours of travel and counter-travel, and circiiugs in the woods of almost tropical denseness, she caught a ray of light, which, on ncaring, proved to be a glimmer escaping from between the rude logs of her rustic home, though to her more than a palace, for it contained lier children, a mother's priceless jew'cls. Jlrs. Hub b:ird's second husband was a Hazen. by wliom she had three children - Daniel, Simeon and A''alcntine - uncles to the present generation of Hnzens in Lexington Township. This circumstance was related to E. X. Johnson by 3Irs. Ilubljard herself, and he thinks he is not mistaken as to lier being grandmother to our living citizens of that name ; to say the least, Ihey are worthy enough to be her ofl'spriug, anil she was brave enougli to be their grandmother.

Up to 1812, salt was very iiigh and scarce ; it had to be packed on liorseback from Cleveland or Conneaut. The lirst barrel ever teamed into the township was in 1814, and cost :!!12. A few years after this, manufactories of salt were established on Yellow Creek, from which source the early settlers obtained their supplies, at a cost of $(5 a barrel. The first improvement east of Alliance was on the then called Jlorcer Clearing,'' afterward known as the Oyster Farm ; " it is now owned and occupied by James Iloiles. The farm lies at the junction of the county line road and the JMt. Union road. The only house or cabin in 1818 between Salem and this point was one half a mile this side of Damascus, built and used by a Mr. Morris, who was grandfather to the Hon. James Bruff. who now owns the spot of these primitive improvements. How strangely are the conveniences enjoyed to-daj- contrasted with those of the settlers of this township at the beginning of the j)resent century, when it is remembered that {Jharlcs Hamhn. father-in-law to Shadrich Feltz, Nathan Gaskill. father-in-law to Joshua Hamlin, residing now just west of Alliance, and other persons, had to go to the mouth of tlie Little Beaver to get their grain converted into flour. Corn was brought down the Ohio in barges, from the Monongahela region, and landed at the Little Beaver. From this source the first settlers obtained their supplies, until these " openings "' or " clearings '' would yield them a sufficiency. It required three days to go to mill and bring home two busliels of corn meal on horseback. The next approximation to a llouring-mill to these localities was one erected in the vicinit}' of New Lisbon. It only requiring two days to go and return from mill ; this mill was considered quite convenient, and supplied all furt!\er demands in the waj- of luxury for a number of years. The next great move, in the mill line, toward degeneracy upon the part of the vigorous pioneers of Lexington Township, was to have flouring machinery so luxuriously near to their cabin doors, that they could visit it with their batch of corn and return in a single day. So to meet this voluptuous demand, a mill was erected on the waters of the Mahoning, in Deerfleld Township, Portage County, and long known as the " Laughlin Mill." It was owned and run by the father of Harvey Laughlin, Esq., a citizen of this city. A satiety of epicurean convenience was at last reached, but the cause of development and decaj' was at work, as it alw'aj-s has been and always will be. It ran Kome and Greece from noble, vigorous men to voluptuous imbeciles, and both became the easj' prej- of hard}- enemies, who were destined to run this, the same course, and leave the track open for successors. It was true at the advent of the " Laughlin jMills ; " the scitlers of Lexington Tow-nship had not reached the epicurean sensuality of Romans, at the era of their greatest debauchery, but their yearnings were in that direction. Powdered diamonds could not be drunk, butlinseywoolsej- trousers could bo substituted for buckskin breeches. The aromatic fruits of the tropics were not of easy access, but a flouringmill run by water, with wooden gudgeons, and costing the enormous fortune of $-100 or $800, conld be built within a stone throw of their clapboard cabin doors. There was the sweeping current of the Mahoning, made into a highway of commerce by legislative enactments, restless to revolve the ponderous machinery.

The first grist-mill in Lexington Township was south of the town of Lexington, on the river ; it was built by Aaron Stratton. A sawmill was built in conjunction with the nrill. It was on the latter mill that Job Holloway, son of the pioneer, Amos MoUoway. lost his life by the falling of a beam. Job Holloway was the father of Mrs. William Antrum, now living with her excellent husband on a finelj'-cultivated farm immediately west of Mt, Union. Treble the quantity of rain fell in early times that falls now. The Mahoiiiug was subject to tliiee or lour frightful freshets every ^-ear, iuuuclatiug all the bottom lauds. The river, restive of all first restraints upon its swollen waters, washed away the lirsl enterprise of the kind altempted in the township. The next mill buiil in the township was by Bryan Elliot, on the less angry aud more generous waters of Deer Creek, about one mile west of the village of Limaville. This mill, though frequently repaired, has run continuously siuce its first erection. In 1818, a grist ant! saw mill of some greater pretensions was built in Williamsport by Johnson & Pennock, on the Mahoning. The water being insutlicient at times, steam was introduced. It is al present in successful operation under the management of Kirk & (jo. This mill has been successively owned by Thomas Grant, John Grant, John Miller. M. Miller, C. Russell, Buckman Oc Co., aud others whose names are not obtained. Mr. Burgett, formerly of Paris Township, erected, about 18C3, a steam gristmill in Alliance, which has ruu continuously uniler his management since it was first started. The Limaville -Mill, Kirk & Cos ( ity Mills " and Burgett's Mill are the three ttouring-mills now in operation in Lexington Township. The proprietors of these mills are all fine citizens, au(.l their respective brands of fiour have a good reputation in the market. An incident is reiateil to illustrate the jollifications of the settlers. In 1818, at the opening of the Williamsport Mill, John Meese, a hunter of considerable note, had a large and ferocious male l/uci/ie, which he had broken, to be led antl carry burdens. He ladened this bull with a bag of corn, rustically ornamented his horns, and mounted on his back one of his boys that could play the fife, and to its sprightly music he led the beast to the new mill with the first grist overground in Alliance. Saw-mills are more transitory in their lives than grist-mills. Uolla Day built the first saw mill in Lexington Township on the Mahoning. A saw-mill was connected with the Williamsport grist-mill ; <;ne was built on lUpckliilllon Creek, on the farm now owned by David Hockhill ; one in Freedom, east of the present steam mill; one in Limaville; one about one. mile west of Limaville ; one on Beech Creek, in the neighborhood of John Taylor's ; one on Little Beech Creek, in the settlement of David Minser ; another in the Hively neighborhood, on or adjoining lands owned by Jacob Lower. The ruins of one are seen on a small brook west of the Seranton farm, north of Lexington. There have been from ten to twelve water saw-mills built in the township, but none have been erected since 1840. The ruins of some of the above located mills are found on what are now not even rivulets, water scarcely passing by the ruined tail-races of these former mills, in the wettest season.

Steam saw-mills have supplanted water mills ; there have been five of these miils in the township ; one was built in Alliance by George Stroup, in 1857, sold by him to Watson & Barnab}', and now owned b}- the latter member of that firm. Another steam saw-mill was located north of Strong <!«; Lower's warehouse, one at or near Carr's Corners, and one on lands owuei.1 by Mr. (jlreenshiekls, three and one-half miles northwest of Alliance, and one west of Limaville. The era of saw-mills of all kinds has about passed. In this township, limber is comparatively scarce and inditl'ereut for sawing purposes. Pine aud hemlock are brought into the city from the Saginaw region and sold as low as the native timber of the township. But little sawed timber was used or needed prior to the era of water saw-mills. The first sawed lumber commanded a value equal to 25 cents per hundred feet from 1815 to 1820. It was worth 50 cents a hundred feet from this date till 1845, when it brought in trade at Canton from 75 cents to $1 per hundred feet. After this period, the rapid development of the country and the increase of manufacturing, the price of lumber in the township has gradually advanced, till it has reached its present price, viz.. $2 per hundred feet for hard wood, beech, sugar, elm, oak, etc. : white cucumber .ind poplar commanded at the mills from S2 to $2.50 per hundred feet. This is probably the maximum price which sawed lumber of the township will ever reach, for the reason that the quality is fast deterioratiug, and hemlock and pine are now imported by the lumber merchants, and sold at the quoted rates.

The town of Lexington was surveyed in lots in 1807. and duly christened after that spot on the continent which witnessed the first contest of British and Colonial arms, and inaugurated the Revolution of 1770. The name was historical, aud the anticipations of its founders doubtless great. By legislative decree, the Mahoning was made a public highway of com- merce. Provisions were made in the survey for all necessary flocks and wharves. Imagination possibly saw the first occupied with masts, whose spars floated the flags of other nations, and the latter piled with the exports of the North and the products of tiie Gulf It can easily be imagined how metropolitan this town, laying claim to such grand expectations, was held by the primitive settlers. Williamsport was not laid out for twenty years thereafter, and then was suburban to Lexington. Freedom followed in twenty-one years. Mount Union in twentj'-three years. At or soon after the founding of the city of Lexington, e.x-President Grant's father lived in the adjoining township of Deerfteld. and was engaged in the tanning business, ('apt. Oliver, once Mayor of Alliance, William Vincent, James Garrison and other citizens attending tiie National Convention at (Chicago in 1868, which noniiuatcd for the Chief Executive of the United States U, S. Grant. The Captain and his comrades went to the headquarters of the Ohio Delegation, and found the Deerfleld tanner there. They were introduced to the old gentleman, who inquired where they were from. They informed him from Alliance, He said he had no remembrance of that place or of any of the surrounding towns, which they named. The Captain then told him they lived about midway between Canton and Salem. He then remarked they must be from the town of Lexington. The town of Lexington had a tavern, a store, a Friends' meeting-house, and a school ; it had tlie thrift and economy common to Quakers ; it had an expected future, and besides these grand frontier privileges, it had a weekly )30st office, and was the headquarters of news for a large adjacent district. Mount Union had n(.) ))i>st office for twenty j'ears after one was estalilisiied in Lexington. Freedom had none for nearly forty years thereafter.

The post office in Freedom was established in 1848, David G, Hester was the first appointed. He held the position eighteen months. The first mail to Alliance or Freedom brought one paper, the Ohio Rcj)osito7-i/, and one letter. The gross receipts for the first quarter were $17, The position was responsible, and the distributive laliors of the office arduous. David resigned, and Robert N, Buck (deceased), the father of Dr. R. M. Buck, formerly a physician of this place, was his successor. Mr. Hester kept the post office at his then residence, facing the Central LTuion School grounds, Mr, Buck then owned and occupied the grounds now known as "Garrison's f^iarden," at which point he dealt out the instalhncnts of news for three months. Not relishing the duties of the position, he sought a resignation and a successor for tiiree months more, wiien one turned up in the person of Thomas Beer, a telegraph oper:itor, occupying a room in the frame deput Ixiildiiig, since burned, located opposite the present brick depot. Mr, Beer was an ardent Democrat, He turned his attention to the law ; moved to Bucyrus, Crawford Co., Ohio, and has gained some eminence in his profession. He has been twice honored by the citizens of that county with a seat in the councils of the State, Mr, Beer's successor was H, Laughlin, Esq,, who held the office during the last two 3ears of Buchanan's administration. The post office during his term was in the building now occupied by J. M. Webb as a restaurant. On the accession of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency, D, G, Hester was again appointed to the position of Postmaster, and held the same for six years, A part of the time the office was in the building now occupied liy Leek & McKlroy as a provision store, and the ijalance of the time in the room now owned and used by iMr. Hester as a book and stationery store, Mr, Hester yielded the post office to Wilson Culbertson through the persuasion of one Andrew Johnson, Mr. Culbertson located the office in tlie room now occupied by Dr. Pogle as a drug store. His lease of office continued only six months, when it was yielded to the Hon, Humphrey Hoover, and returned to Mr, Hester's store. It continued under the management of Mr, Hoover for eighteen months, Mr, Henry Shreve, an assistant in tlie office under .Mr, Hoover, was his successor, and has served the position of Postmaster acceptabl}' to the departments and to the people for four years, and was re-appointed for another fouryear lease. Mr, Shreve had the office in Mr. James Vallillej''s building, on the west side of the public square. It requires three persons in the post office to discharge the labor. What better commentary on the development and growth of Lexington Township could be found, than the statement, that, in 1848. the receipts of the post office at this point were $17 per quarter; in 1873, they were over $1,500, and in 1881 $1,800 per quarter. The people of the town- sliijj are further supplied with postal conveniences at Limaville and Mount Union. Tlie offices at these points ma\- be referred to in a sul)se(|Uent ch:i|)ter. A colony of colored people located in licxiuiiton Township, one mile east of Willianisport. that beinu the name of the few buildings on the north side of the Mahoning River. This people had a church at the above -mentioned point, and Ihey called themselves -- Christ's |)isci[)lcs." .\11 that remains of that church now is a narrow strip of land thrown out to the commons, on the north side of the high was running east, and overgrown by brambles. This was their burying ground. This settlement of colored jjcople compriseii about 200 souls, and was made up chietly of fugitives and freedmen from \'irginia. They were orderly, industrious, and esteemed good citizens. Messrs. T. Price. Roland Bracy and K. Hamlin olHci.'ited in the church in the administration of the Word. An anecdote is related of one of their preachers, as occurring in the heated summary of his discourse, establishing the doctrine that they were God's peculiar people. He touchingly referred to the laml)-like tufts of wool upon their heads as conclusive upon the point that they were his especial lambs. This church and settlement is now. and has been for years, entirely broken up. From this point. two fugitives were recaptured ami consigned to a life of hopeless toil. Logan County, in this State, and I^ower Canada were the two chief points to which the\" emigrated. In 1850. there were only 30 colored residents in Lexington Township; in 18(10, there were l.")7; 38 in the Limaville Precinct, and 11!) in the Alliance Precinct ; in 1870, there were 201 colored citizens in the township ; Cfi in the Limaville Precinct, and 134 in the Alliance Precinct. This people possesses, in a large degree, the religious element. They have a church in Alliance, organized in 1870. by '' Uncle Josie Armstrong," a colored man of large brain, and jiossessing great power as a preacher and great unction in prayer. This organization is called the .\frican Methodist Church. It has no regular Pastor at present, and is languishing, embracing only from fifteen to twenty members.

Prior to 1812. there was no necessity for sawed lumber in the township. The floors of the cabins were made of '- |)uncheons. ' their roofs were covered with "clapboards," rived from straisiht-srained oak timber, their sides of round logs, their doors of heavy clapboards ami swung on wooden hinges ; their window consisted of a couple of feet cut from one of the side logs and the hole covered with greased paper. The chimney and fire-place was a magnificent affair, the latter often occupying the entire end of the cabin, and the base of it was built of " nigger-head " stones or bog-ore,'' and the balance of the chimney above the contact of the fire, was built on the outside of the cabin, of cross-sticks and tempered clay. These cabins made one room, were one story high and a loft." The furniture consisted of a rude table and stools of primitive style. In some instances, there were two doors in the same cabin directly opposite, and Ijgs ten feet long and eighteen inches in diameter were drawn with a horse into the cabin, and then rolled into the ("ipacious fire-place. A few green logs of this size, when fairly ablaze, would l)id defiance to the coldest weather. This form of architecture w:us followed, not precisely by the Corinthian, but bj- an improved hewed log house. The logs were tlattened on both sides, the joists were hewed, the flooring sawed, and the buiMings were mostly two stories high ; the roofs were made of rived, and often shaved, oak shingles, fastened to the sheeting with nails which would now be obtained at 25 cents per pound. The windows were few. but consisted of a four-light sash window, made to hold 8x10 glass; the crevices between the logs were filled by juggles, and then neatly plastered on the in and out side with well tempered yellow clay, of which article there has never been any scarcity in the township. The outside ponderous chimney of the round-log cabin was moved to the inside of the hewed-log house. This kind of a house was warm and neat, and also aristocratic, until John Grant, in 18 - , built a commodious tW'O-story brick house, west and aci'oss the j-avine from where Amos Coates now lives.

There have been three woolen mills in Lexington Township. One w'as built south of Lexington, on the Mahoning, by W. S. Miller ; it was sold by him to one Snyder, under whose management the enterprise failed. It was then purchased by Lawrence Alexander, under whose practical control it manufactured a variety of fabrics for clothing, as well as carded wool. This mill was burnetl. Mr. Alexander removed to Canton, and now owns and runs fine woolen mills in that cit)^ Another woolen mill was built in Limaville by William Hicklen and sold to JI. Allison, and then purchased by Elias Hoover. During the administration of the above parties, the mill was operated for the purpose for which it was built ; but YiY. Hoover sold it to John Ware for a cliair factory, and wliile thus occupied it was burned. The third and last mill of this description was built on the Freedom side of the Mahoning. The race is yet to be seen, about which a law suit was coranienced at the time the mill was ready to go into operation, which defeated the project, and the machinery was moved to the northern part of Portage County.

The dili'erence.s being so great between the surroundings of life in Lexington Township sixty years ago and what they are to-day, many might conclude tliat those old veterans of pioneer life had deprivations and hardships without any interims of pleasure. Sue;h a conclusion is verj- wide of the mark ; they had their recreations and lestivals. The brain power and moral tension for wealth was not so gi-eat then, and more frequently relaxed than it is to-day. Democracy pervades society in fnmtier life, wealth and development are the lever-arms upon which aristocracy treads to power. ])emocracy is equalitv and humanity ; border and dependent life compels it. Aristocracy is enthroned selfishness ; wealth and its purchases permit it. The pioneers, outside of superior social enjoyment common among early settlers, enjoyed a delirious pleasure when, with their sinewy arms, they grappled with the ferocious bear. They felt a wild enjoyment when the fleeting stag fell dead in his lightning course, through the agency of their unerring rifles. This exhilarating and manly sport raaj- be startling to the pampered, elfeminate sons of luxury. Those iron-armed, resolute settlers might have been unlearned in books, but thejwere wise and ennobled from an admitted converse and intimac}' with nature, when her grandeur was undefaced liy man's spoiling art.

property the year previous - there being three times more of an increase of real estate than in any township in the county, save Canton and Perrj^ In 1852, Lexington Township had 6,000 acres of wheat, which yielded 13,56-1- bushels. The same year was cut 506 acres of corn, which produced 15,627 bushels. The soil of Lexington Township is thin and clayey. White oak timber was the chief variety in the northeast corner ; the other sections grew more poplar, maple, beech, chestnut, etc. The soil in the neighborhood of the town of Lexington seemed originally quite productive, but from bad husbandry or a deficiencj' of the proper elements of a good soil, it must be regarded as the poorest in the county. Politics never caused much excitement in this township until the log-cabin and hard-cider campaign of 1840, since which time there has been a sufBeiencj' of zeal manifested on all election occasions. The stores in the township in 1823 were owned b}' Jacob Shilling, Limaville ; Stephen Hamlin, Lexington ; Akey & Culbertson, Limaville ; Mathias Hester. Freedom ; Job Johnson, 31t. Union.

Making a grand total since 182G until 1872 of §415,781.07. These amounts of course inciiule Alliance, as well as the other portions of tlie township. No ta.\ duplicate has been made for Alliance separately, except tiiat of 1872, wlien it was made in a separate list, and. for the sake of convenience, has since been made so.

The municipal gevernmont of Limavillc was orgaiiizotl on April 3,-18 II, bj- tlie election of Isaac Winans as .Mayor. The follmving is a list of .Mayors elected Ijy the citizens of the corporation since that time until 1870 :

For the following list of Justices of the Peace the readers of the liistory of Lexington Township arc indebted to Ed Page, Esq., the efficient and courteous (Merk of tlie Common Fleas of Stark Comity :

-' Tis ediK-atiou thai lorm.^ tUc comnion mind. Just a.s the twig is bent the tree's inclined." The drst school ever opened iu Lexington Township was in the town of Lexington, in the year 1809. The iirst school teacher in that school was Dtmiel \otaw. It was a subscription school, and under the managemeut of the Society of Friends. A lew years thereafter, a subscription school was opened iu the vicinity of Limaville. The tirst school held in the Alliance section of the township was held iu a vacatetl cabin on the land now owned by Clement KockhiU, just west of the fair groumls. it was taught by Andy Murran in the year 1820. It will be reineiubered thai the present commonschool system of the 8iate was not instituted or organized until alter 1824, cou.se(iuenlly, all schools, prior to this date, were temporary, springing up in tliis or that locality, and liviug two or three months, as the school neces.->ities of a neighborhood seemeil to give them birth. They were held in vacateil cabins, and the teachers paid by subscription, i'o 8tark County belongs the credit ot Imviiig sent a represeulative to the State Legislature in 1822, wtio introduceil the Iirst bill which was ever introduced into the Legislature for the establishing and regulating of cominon-schools iu Ohio. The experience of ahnost half a ceutury has reudereil changes in the law necessaiy ; but to the Stark County representative be the credit of having introtluced a system of common schools that has, with it-s amendments, been found sufficiently comprehensive to educate all the chililren iu the State. Everv niau who has lived in Stark County long enough to remember, and has noticed the current of events, can call to i mind the opposition that burst upon Mr. La- ! throp on his return to his constituency. A howl wont up against taxation and against Mr. Lathrop : but he was not to be driven from his purposes.

The School Board has wisely adopted the distributive system of schools ; locating one Primary Department in Webb's Addition to the northeast section of the town ; one on Market ; street, in the southwest section ; one in Lamborn's Addition, in the southern section. The School Board asked the voters to grant funds in the way of self-imposed tax to erect a fourth building to meet a growing want in the south- I east section of the town. The three Primary | Departments are clever, substantial, two-story | brick structures, which have been built at a cost of about $2,000 each to the people.

The following official census report of the city ; of the number of youths between the age of five and twenty-one 3'ears, for the years ]8fi7-72, ; inclusive ; also the number of children under five years of age for the year 1 872 :

The history of Lexington Township would be 1 incomplete, should it fail to speak of an institution, which more than any other in the county, was humble and unpromising in its origin ; yet, with objects based on the wants of the people, has overcome almost insurmountable obstacles, and .stands to-day a source of usefulness high in the confidence of the people. A six-room schoolhouse was erected in 1856. A system of [ graded schools, under the State laws of 1849, } was organized, in March, 1857. Under this organization, schools were opened in four rooms, in charge of a Superintendent, with the total ! number of youth of school age in the district amounting to 860. The number of youth of , school age in September, 1880, was 1,452. The number of rooms occupied in 1880, and each in | charge of a separate teachei", was 19, and the number of schoolhouses at that date, each containing from two to six rooms, was 5. The l)uildings are located to suit the convenience of younger pupils. Tlie following gentlemen have served as Superintendents during the term specified : J. K. Pickett, George Hester, Jesse Markham, D. M. Miller, W. H. Dressier, C Y. Kay, J. F. Richards, and at present Mr. Dressier is again in charge, and discharging the responsible duties acceptably to the people. The public schc5ols of Alliance have attained a high degree of efficiency in organization, course of study, discipline, method of instruction and proficiency in the substantial studies, justly placing them in the front rank of liie better class of .schools in the State.

As nearlv as can now be ascertained, the first Methodist societ}- of Lexington Township was formed in the village of Lexington in 1819. It consisted of a class of six members, of whom Thomas Wood was appointed leader. It was perhaps in the autumn of the same year that Lexington became a regular preaching-place in connection with what was called Mahoning Circuit, with Calvin Ruttor and John Stewart preachers. The society first worshiped in private dwellings, then in an old schoolhouse. In 1827, thej- erected the first Methodist Episcopal Church built in the township. It was a rude afl'air. constructed of white oak logs, ])uncheon seats, minus backs. In this homely structure, they worshiped with slow but steady growth, until their present neat and comfortable building was erected. Some members of the first society still survive. In 1840, a class was formed, and preaching established in what was then called Williamsport, in connection with Salem Circuit, Brother M. L. Weekly preacher in charge. The society worshiped in private dwellings for a year or two, when thej- fitted up an old wheelwrightshop for the purpose. In this extemporized church, a series of meetings were held, under the superintendence of the Rev. S. D. Kinear, which resulted in the conversion and addition to the church of about ninety persons. Among them was Henry Chancre, the popular temperance lecturer, known as the '' Buckeye Broadaxe." Mr. Chance is still living, and doing effective work in the cause of temperance. This large addition to the society encouraged the hitherto little band to inaugurate a movement to secure, if possible, a house of their own in which to worship. The result was the erection of the frame building in which the Friends now hold service, located in what was called Freedom. Here the society worshiped with constant growth until 1865. when the house, becoming too small for the congregation, it was sold about the 1 st of May to the Society of Friends, who repaired it.

LEXINUTOX TOWXSHIland still occupy it as a place of worship. The congregation, then under the superintendence of Brother. \. B. lA'onard. engajicd inanewciuirch enterprise, whicii ciiliuinaled in the erection of tlie brick building in which they worship. This society has a membership of about 400, which is constantly increasing.

The Sal)bath School connected with the charge is f)ne of the largest in Eastern Ohio. It is under the supervision of an able body of officers and teachers, and is in a flourishing condition. The Society is contemplating a radical iraproveuient of their church building, which is greatly needed. The truth is. Alliance ought to have better church accomodations and we have no doubt if the congi'cgation of the Methodist Episcopal Church will undertake the erection of a tinst-class church, the}' will have the earnest co-operation of tlie citizens generally, and will deserve the everlasting gratitude of every one ambitious for the improvement of the growing young city of Alliance. In 1841, a society was formed and preaching estalilished in Mt. Union, by Rev. M. L. Weekly. This congregation has steadily prospered and is now in a flourishing condition. Mount Union, it is well known, is the seat of Mount Union College.

A Methodist society has existed for 3ears at Limaville. From a feeble start it has grown into a vigorous band of Christian workers, numbering some fifty communicants, have a fine sabbath school and a neat church. There are now. in Lexington Township, about ten hundred members of the Methodist Episcopal Church ! Over twelve hundred Sabbath school scholars, and over ijaOO.OOO worth of church and college property. Besides all this, a large number of the members of the church here, from time to time moved to other sections of the country, while many have gone to that better land. This is but a brief and imperfect sketch of the history of th(! Methodist Episcfipal Church in Lexington Township. It is the best we can do with our present limited data. The following is a list of Methodist ministers who have served charges in Lexington Township and Alliance station since the church was

Of the above list, five have died, five are superannuated, three have located, six have been transferred to another conference, one expelled. Thus, out of forty-seven ministers, twentj--six onlj- are in the work.